Answer:
Elephant Seals are not endangered. They are actually doing very well. According to the IUCN Red List, both species are considered to be Least Concern. The Southern Elephant Seal population is stable, the number of Northern Elephant Seals is even increasing.
Explanation:
The Southern Elephant Seal always has been safe, but there was a point in history that the Northern Elephant Seal was very close to extinction. In the 19th century, sealers regularly raided elephant seal rookeries for their blubber, which was used to make oil. Elephant seals are huge, but clumsy at land and make an easy prey, especially since they live in large colonies, which make them easy to find. By the 1890s, only one colony of 100 animals (some say it was even as low as 20 animals) was known on an island off the coast of Mexico.
But they recovered. In 2010, the population was estimated to be between 210,000 and 239,000 animals. They have recolonized offshore islands off the coast of California and Baja California, even started rookeries on the mainland. Pups have been born as far north as British Columbia.
Least Concern doesn’t mean completely free of risk. The population wen through what is called a ‘genetic bottleneck’. When the world population dropped to 20–100 individuals, the Northern Elephant Seal lost a lot of its genetic diversity. All the current animals are descendents of that very small group that survived the 19th century. That means that all living Northern Elephant Seals are closely related to each other, which makes the species very vulnerable to disease outbreaks. But as of yet, the species is considered to be safe.
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