Three hundred volunteers spend days shoveling snow into piles 7m long and 1.5m high around the edge of a frozen lake for one of the world’s most endangered seals. Only 495 Saimaa ringed seal remain. They raise their young in “snow caves” inside snow drifts – but as the climate warms, the snow is disappearing. More than 300 pups have been born in artificial snowdrifts since 2014. Saimaa seals are less than 1.5 meters long and each has a unique fur pattern – like human fingerprints. In the late 1980s their population dwindled to fewer than 200 , driven by hunting and deaths caused by fish traps. Now, the seals are fully protected but the climate emergency looms large. Scientists from the University of Eastern Finland are creating artificial dens, or nest boxes, that mimic the real thing, which could be used in ice-free winters.

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