Seal on ice

Numbering about 360 individuals, the Saimaa ringed seal is one of the rarest seals in the world and can only be found in the Saimaa water system in Finland. WWF Finland has worked in many ways to protect the Saimaa ringed seal since 1979 and thanks to these efforts, the population of the Saimaa ringed seal, previously facing extinction, has been preserved and even increased. Recently volunteers including WWF dug snow banks to help pregnant Saimaa ringed seals give birth. The seals later gave birth to 81 pups with 90 percent of them born in these man-made snow banks. Learn more about WWF's efforts to save the Saimaa ringed seals.