Rescued Monk Seal Panayis Arrives in Cyprus from Greece

A young Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) named Panayis, rescued in the Famagusta area in November 2024, has returned to Cyprus after nearly five months of rehabilitation in Greece. He arrived in Larnaca this morning on an Aegean Airlines flight.

According to Haris Nicolaou from the Forest Department, the seal, who was just ten days old at the time of rescue, has grown, fully recovered, and will be released into Cypriot waters today.

The ecologist expressed gratitude to the Greek Society for the Study and Protection of the Mediterranean Monk Seal (MOm) for their care of Panayis during his rehabilitation. Panos Dendrinou, President of MOm, stated that after several months of treatment, the now 4.5-month-old seal is ready to live independently in its natural habitat.

Panayis’s mother was found dead in Famagusta in November 2024, with the autopsy revealing that she had died from complications during childbirth. Following her death, a monk seal monitoring team was mobilized to find the newborn.

The pup, just ten days old, was discovered in a coastal area and immediately transferred to the Cyprus Marine Aquaculture Research Centre in Meneou for initial care. To ensure his survival without his mother, he was later sent to the MOm team in Greece, which specializes in rehabilitating monk seals.