The Saimaa ringed seals is the most endangered species of seal in the world. They are adorable creatures that are sadly on the brink of extinction. There are only around  400 of these guys in the world so it's important that as humans, we help them. Saimaa ringed seals ecosystem happens to only be Lake Saimaa in Finland which is a fresh water lake making these seals one of the few freshwater seals in the world. These little guys are so special and cute and like most animals, don’t deserve to go extinct.
They had to adapt to freshwater once they got stuck in Lake Saimaa after the last ice age some 8000 years ago but since the start of the 20th century, they haven’t been able to adapt to climate change. The biggest problem for Saimaa is they have low success in breeding and nursing because climate change  has made it hard for them to find snow drifts to keep their pups in. Saimaa ringed seals like to build snow banks out of the lake’s ice where they can give birth and take care of their pups. But because of climate change, there is less snow for them to build with, making pups more likely to die since they have no protection from the cold or possible predators. Saimaa ringed seals rely so much on ice and snow that data shows that a mild winter can lead to a 30% mortality rate of pups.

WWF and Park and Wildlife in Finland  have already started helping the Saimaa ringed seals by making man-made snow banks for them and their pups. These snow drifts have been made to mimic naturally made snow banks before the winter season. It’s very important that more volunteers come and continue to help making these snow banks for these seals because they need to increase their pup population or else they will become extinct. Please sign this petition so we can get more people’s attention about this issue.