What is the staple diet of the leopard seal?
Leopard seal less frequently, Weddell, crabeater, Ross, and young southern elephant seals. Leopard seals have also been filmed eating fur seal pups. Around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, the Antarctic fur seal ("Arctocephalus gazella") is the main prey. Other prey include penguins and fish. Antarctic krill ("Euphausia superba"), southern elephant seal ("Mirounga leonina") pups and seabirds other than penguins have also been taken as prey. When hunting penguins, the leopard seal patrols the waters near the edges of the ice, almost completely submerged, waiting for the birds to enter the ocean. It kills the swimming bird by grabbing the feet, then
Leopard seal they may be at risk as polar ice caps diminish with global warming. In the wild, leopard seals can live up to 26 years old. Leopard seal hunting is regulated by the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS). Leopard seal The leopard seal ("Hydrurga leptonyx"), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predators are the killer whale and possibly the elephant seal. It feeds on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, birds