A shocked resident came across an unbelievable find amongst the southern downpour in Invercargill.
Dee Knapp was out checking for new lambs on his Otautau property when he stumbled across what he thought was an injured bird.
He said he pulled out his cellphone and got a major surprise when he realised it was a baby seal.
"Well blow me away, it's a baby seal in the middle of my paddock, in the middle of nowhere," Knapp said.
"I'm 10 kilometres away from the nearest beach and 2 kilometres from the nearest river and I thought, what do we have here?"
He contacted the Department of Conservation, who told him to let nature take its course.
Knapp said that advice didn't sit well with him.
"I made the executive decision to wrap him in a blanket, bring him inside, give him a feed then take him to Blue Cliffs Beach and release him," he added.
The two-week old pup was even given a name: Lu-seal.
Related Stories
Comments
Doc's advice was to let nature take its course? Excuse me - what does that mean? To let the poor wee mite die? That doesn't sound like conservation to me - it sounds like somebody couldn't be bothered dealing with it. Really glad the farmer took humane action and ignored the "advice". Disgraceful really - surely Doc can make a better effort than that. How hard would it have been for them to return the seal to a beach?
I know the farmer thought he was doing the right thing but he should have listened to DOC. I have volunteered alongside DOC workers working with sea lions. It is not uncommon for a seal pup to be in forest or a paddock. By moving the seal pup the mother now will have difficulty in finding the pup. Let's hope they find each other.