Insights into anthropogenic threats and early mortality in the Guadalupe fur seal from a plausible mixed colony on the San Benito Archipelago, Mexico
Casandra Gálvez·Ernesto I. Popoca-Arellano·Claudia J. Hernández-Camacho·Stephen Raverty·Germán Ponce-Díaz·Arturo B. Enríquez-García·Fernando R. Elorriaga-Verplancken
In Mexico, the Guadalupe fur seal ( Arctocephalus townsendi , GFS) is listed as Risk of Extinction, with one breeding site on Guadalupe Island, and another potential colony proposed in the late 1990s on the San Benito Archipelago (SBA). Although there are some health and mortality studies regarding GFS on Guadalupe Island, the SBA colony remains understudied. This study aimed to characterize the causes of neonatal GFS morbidity and mortality, and to assess potential threats to species conservati