Endangered seal pup rescued in Greece

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ATHENS, Greece, March 7 (UPI) -- Greek conservationists say they've rescued a 2-month-old Mediterranean monk seal, one of the world's most endangered marine mammals.

The recovering pup is one of just 600 of the animals remaining in the wild. Its rescuers say they plan to release it into a small monk seal colony in Greece, the BBC reported Monday.

The pup was very weak when researchers found it, and "rescue came at the last moment," wildlife biologist Alexandros Karamanlidis said.

Rescuers first spotted the pup Feb. 7 in a seal colony on an island in the southwestern Aegean Sea.

"Two days later the pup started showing first signs of weakness, as it did not try to get at all in the water and did not react to human presence," the rescuers said.

Finally the animal was brought to a wildlife center on the island of Alonissos.

"He had been separated from his mother and he was full of internal parasites," Karamanlidis said. "Now he is gaining rapidly weight and, if everything goes according to plan, he will be released soon."

Development has encroached on the seals' habitat, pushing the animals from the beaches into caves where pups are swept out of the caves by storm surges and become separated from their mothers, researchers said.