Panagis, an orphaned seal pup found struggling in the coastal waters of Cyprus, is now being nursed back to health in Greece. He’ll soon be ready to be released back into the wild.
According to Associated Press, Panagis is one of dozens of Mediterranean monk seals that have been nursed back to health by Greece’s Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal (MOm).
MOm is a charity dedicated to the care and protection of the rare marine mammal, which at one point faced extinction.
These seals are now making a comeback thanks to conservation efforts.
Half of its estimated global population of 800 live in Greek waters, where many sea caves can be found that provide shelter for females to rear their young.
However fishermen view them as pests due to them ripping through fishing nets to steal fish.
They were hunted for decades and were listed as critically endangered by the IUCN after a major population decline between the 1960s and 1980s.
Panagiotis Dendrinos, a marine biologist and coordinator for MOm, said “society gradually began to change … and the population began to recover” when conservation efforts began in the 80s’.
This included outreach programs to educate the public — and fishermen.
The monk seal is the only seal species in the Mediterranean Sea and “one of the rarest species of seal and marine mammal in the world” according to Dendrinos.
“To protect an animal like the Mediterranean monk seal in its natural environment, you essentially have to protect the entire marine ecosystem,” he said.
The conservation efforts have worked and now the species are listed as ‘vulnerable’.
MOm tend to adult seals on location where possible and for young seals, they transport them to their rehab centre in Athens at the Attica Zoological Park.
Veterinarians care for the young mammals and their carers give them names, often after people who find them. But contact with humans is kept minimal to prepare for life in the wild.
Dendrinos said as the only centre of its kind in the region, MOm has cared for around 40 seals.
“This year, we had a really pleasant surprise,” he said.
“A female seal that had been treated and released four years ago was spotted nursing a pup.”
As mentioned earlier, Panagis was found in Cyprus, near where the carcass of his mother was found.
“Transportation is carried out with whatever is available,” veterinary assistant Nikitas Vogiatzis said.
“Either by plane, or by boat, or even by taxi.
“Konstantina came in a taxi, Panagis by plane, Renos came on a boat,” he said, listing MOm’s most recent wards.
Three-month-old Panagis is now 40kg, up from 15kg when he first arrived, and is now nearly ready to return home, which they hope will happen at the end of this month.
