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Arctocephalus forsteri

New Zealand Fur-Seal

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Juvenile at Black Rock, Rarotonga, 1989	42KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: New Zealand Fur-Seal

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE NZ (South Island and southward) - s. & sw.Australia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Vagrant, Non-breeder; Marine

KEY FEATURES: One of seven species of fur-seal in the Southern Hemisphere. It breeds in New Zealand (South Island, Chathams and southward), along the southern coast of Australia to north of Perth. (A different species breeds on Tasmania). Like the other fur seals it has scroll-like ear flaps; it can bring it hind flippers forward to walk or "gallop" on all-fours with it body held off the groud; it swims with a porpoising action using its large fore flippers; it ahs a thick two-layer fur coat and very long whiskers. During the winter they tend to move northward. Several have been found in the Cook Islands, the first recorded by William Wyatt Gill in the 1880s on Mangaia. He noted that the people had no name for the animal.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The separation of the different species is for experts.

Enlarged Image of 'Arctocephalus forsteri'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: OPresent Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
OP	OP	-	OP		-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Arctocephalus forsteri (Lesson, 1828)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; MAMMALIA; THERIA; EUTHERIA; Pinnipedia; Otarioidea; OTARIIDAE, Actocephalinae

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: The original description of this species was based on George Forster's account of the sea-bears killed by Captain Cook's crew in 1773 at the south-western tip of New Zealand.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, July 1989, Black Rock, ID from photos by NZ seal researcher Hugh Best as a 2yr old male juvenile Arctocephalus forsteri.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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