Behavioural responses of South American fur seals to approach by tourists - a brief report

I studied the responses (retreats, threats, attacks or leaving the rookery) of South American fur seals Arctocephalus australis to tourist approaches at a non-reproductive, continental colony of located in Cabo Polonio, Uruguay (34 degrees 24'S, 53 degrees 46'W). Fur seals tolerated relatively close distances to humans, but a strong response of the animals was elicited when tourists crossed a threshold of 10 m. The attitude of the tourist was also important. Calm people were: able to approach the colony without almost any disturbance. These results suggested that, with a minimal control of visitor's behaviour, the impact of tourism on this colony would be low. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.