[Post-mortem findings in seals which died in nature (author's transl)].

The findings in seals submitted to the Research Institute for Nature Management, Arnhem, for post-mortem examination during the period from 1960 to 1981 are reviewed with reference to three tables. A striking feature was the large proportion (55 per cent) of young seals, well over 38 percent of which died in the first two months of life. There also was a large proportion of young seals and yearlings with parasitic infections, which would appear to suggest that it is difficult for the young animals to build up a good condition. This could be due to a disturbance during the nursing period and inadequate food of satisfactory quality. Of the grey seals fond on the coast of the Netherlands, 35.5 per cent were young and starved to death. Drowning in nets and hoopnets occurred in the young as well as in the older seals and both in common and grey seals, although the majority of the victims were yearlings.