Editing Leopard seal (section)

===Breeding habits===
[[File:Leopard Seal and pup by Jeff Lipshitz (49848008693).jpg|left|thumb|A mother leopard seal with her pup.]]
Vocalization is thought to be important in breeding, since males are much more vocal around this time. Mating takes place in the water, and then the male leaves the female to care for the pup, which the female gives birth to after an average gestation period of 274 days.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Most leopard seal breeding take place on a pack of ice.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite journal | last1 = Southwell | first1 = Colin | last2 = Kerry | first2 = Knowles | last3 = Ensor | first3 = Paul | last4 = Woehler | first4 = Eric J. | last5 = Rogers | first5 = Tracey | year = 2003 | title = The timing of pupping by pack-ice seals in East Antarctica | journal = Polar Biology | volume = 26 | issue = 10| pages = 648–652 | doi = 10.1007/s00300-003-0534-8 | bibcode = 2003PoBio..26..648S | s2cid = 7565646 }}</ref>

Since leopard seals live in an area difficult for humans to survive in, not much is known on their reproduction and breeding habits. However, it is known that their breeding system is [[Polygyny in animals|polygynous]], meaning that males mate with multiple females during the mating period. Females reach [[sexual maturity]] between the ages of three and seven, and can give birth to a single pup during the summer on the floating ice floes of the Antarctic pack ice; males reach sexual maturity around the age of six or seven years.<ref name="Marine Bio" /> Mating occurs from December to January, shortly after the pups are weaned when the female seal is in [[Estrous cycle|estrus]].<ref name="ReferenceA">"Reproduction - Encyclopedia of Life". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2018-05-15.</ref> In preparation for the pups, the females dig a circular hole in the ice as a home for the pup. A newborn pup weighs around {{cvt|30|kg}} and are usually with their mother for a month, before they are [[weaned]] off. The male leopard seal does not participate in childcare, and returns to its solitary lifestyle after the breeding season.<ref name=":1" /> Leopard seal pup mortality within the first year is close to 25%.<ref name="Administrator">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinnipeds.org/seal-information/species-information-pages/the-phocid-seals/leopard-seal|title=Leopard Seal|last=Administrator|website=www.pinnipeds.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-06-04}}</ref>

Five research voyages were made to Antarctica in 1985, 1987 and 1997–1999 to survey leopard seals.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> They sighted seal pups from the beginning of November to the end of December, and noticed that there was about one pup for every three adults, and they also noticed that most of the adults were staying away from other adults during this season, and when they were seen in groups they showed no sign of interaction.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Borsa | first1 = Philippe | year = 1990 | title = Seasonal occurrence of the leopard seal, Hydrurga leptonyx, in the Kerguelen Islands | journal = Canadian Journal of Zoology | volume = 68 | issue = 2| pages = 405–408 | doi = 10.1139/z90-059 | bibcode = 1990CaJZ...68..405B }}</ref>