Three Arctic seal species are threatened with extinction, according to the latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The update also shows that more than half of the world’s bird species are threatened with extinction. The update was published on 10 October 2025 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi. The IUCN Red List now includes 172,620 species, of which 48,646 are threatened with extinction.
The greatest threat to Arctic seals is the loss of sea ice caused by global warming. Arctic seals depend on sea ice to reproduce and raise their young, moult, rest and reach feeding grounds. Thinning and disappearing sea ice also affects the feeding habits of Arctic seals and makes the Arctic more accessible to humans, further increasing the overall risk to these species.
Global warming is progressing four times faster in the Arctic than in other regions, drastically reducing the extent and duration of sea ice cover.
This threatens all ice-dependent seals, walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) and other marine mammals in the Arctic, as well as Antarctic ice seals and subpolar seal species that depend on ice, such as the Caspian seal (Pusa caspica). Ice-dependent seals are an important food source for other animals.
In the Arctic, these include polar bears and the indigenous peoples of the region. They also play a central role in the food web by eating fish and invertebrates and recycling nutrients. Their disproportionate influence on the ecosystem makes them ‘keystone species’, meaning that the health of the entire marine environment depends on their survival.
“Every year, the melting sea ice on Spitsbergen shows how threatened Arctic seals are. It makes it difficult for them to reproduce, rest and feed. Their plight is a stark reminder that climate change is not a distant problem – it has been going on for decades and is having an impact here and now. Protecting Arctic seals goes beyond these species; it is about preserving the delicate balance of the Arctic, which is vital for us all,” said Dr Kit Kovacs, Co-Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Pinniped Specialist Group and Head of the Svalbard Programme at the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Other pressures on Arctic seals include shipping, noise, oil and mineral extraction, hunting and bycatch in fisheries. Protecting key habitats from human activities, reducing bycatch, sustainable hunting and minimising noise pollution are crucial steps to halt the decline of Arctic seal populations.
Press release: IUCN World Conservation Congress