Sad ending for seal found 35km from home in the middle of a PADDOCK in case Australia gets baffled
A lost seal in Victoria has been euthanized after being found 35km inland
The animal was first seen on Monday in a farmer’s meadow among cattle
seal had to be euthanized because of his advanced age, blindness and fractures
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A lost seal that mysteriously turned up in a cattle rancher’s pasture 35 km from the coast unfortunately has to be euthanized.
Melbourne Zoo announced they would be keeping an eye on the wayward creature after it was first found Monday in Simpson, a small town inland on Victoria’s south coast.
The facility’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Michael Lynch, however, said the seal had to be euthanized on Thursday after sustaining significant injuries while trying to return to the ocean.
A seal discovered 35 km from the ocean in a farmer’s pasture (above) was euthanized on Thursday
“Today’s intervention was necessary after the seal failed to make its way back to the open ocean by the same route it used to arrive at the farm,” he said.
‘When assessed, the seal turned out to be of age, blindness in one eye and dental fractures.
“It was determined that euthanasia was the best outcome for welfare, as the seal would not have been able to forage and live naturally in the wild.”
The zoo previously advised people not to make contact with the seal in the hopes that it would follow the same path as it did to the farm, back to the water.
A video of the seal waddling in the paddock first appeared on social media on Tuesday.
The strange footage showed him wiggling in the wet grass as the confused cattle stood back and stared.
A video online showed the seal wiggling in the grass in front of a group of shocked cows (above)
After a previous seal appeared inland earlier, Aaron Machado of Australian Marine Wildlife Research Rescue said seals are often seen out of the water around this time of year.
“For such a small animal, if you walk 50 meters from the water, you turn around and you can’t see the water anymore, so they just keep walking,” he told 3AW.
“They often go far from the water to relax.”