Press Watch, ANSA-Med, September 29, 2009
(ANSAmed) – MADRID – A baby monk-seal, one of the ten most endangered mammals in the world, was born last week in a natural reserve in Mauritania that is financed by the Spanish government. Monk-seals had not given birth on the shores of the eastern Atlantic for centuries. The baby seal, named Sofia in honour of the Queen of Spain, who visited the reserve two years ago, was spotted at the foot of a cliff by a patrol which protects monk-seals and works for Spanish foundation CBD-Habitat. Press agency EFE reported that sources within the Spanish ministry of the Environment made the announcement. It is since the 15th Century that the Mediterranean monk-seal did not reproduce on the beaches, islands and nooks of the Mauritanian coast because human hunters had forced them to retreat to deep caves, including underwater ones, along the coast.
Mauritania
Nouadhibou, Mauritania