The southern elephant seal population in South Africa has seen its conservation status improve from near threatened to least concern, with a recent assessment citing the absence of serious threats to the species’ breeding colonies. Elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are native to sub-Antarctic islands, including Prince Edward Island and Marion Island, which are part of South Africa. They breed on these two islands, and while the colonies are separate, some seals move between the two populations, which allows interbreeding and increases genetic diversity of the species. According to the recently published 2025 Mammal Red List for Southern Africa, “no serious threats have been affecting the land breeding colonies” of the two islands in the last 40 years, resulting in an increase in elephant seal numbers. The latest assessment was part of a collaboration between the nonprofit Endangered Wildlife Trust and the South African National Biodiversity Institute that brought together 163 researchers from 40 institutions to update the conservation statuses of 336 mammal species native to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland). The review was guided by the standards set down by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority that puts out the global edition of the Red List. The assessment found that 20% of the 336 species are threatened with extinction while 11% are categorized as near threatened. Of the 67 endemic species, those found nowhere else on Earth, 29 are threatened with extinction. Apart from the southern elephant seal, the researchers noted that the status of…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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