Rogue seal rescued in Auckland

  • 05/08/2015
With a bit of coaxing, the seal was eventually wrangled into a large crate. (Supplied)
With a bit of coaxing, the seal was eventually wrangled into a large crate. (Supplied)

A seal dubbed 'Westie' was reluctant to return to the water after being rescued in rural Helensville, Auckland.

Police and Department of Conservation staff were called to the scene around 3:40pm yesterday, with reports the seal was sitting in the middle of Inland Rd at the top of Mackenzie's Hill.

When officers arrived, the seal had gone through a fence into farmland, around 200m off the road.

With a bit of coaxing, he was eventually wrangled into a large crate.

"We eventually managed to get him on to the back of a quad bike and he was then taken up the hill and put into a ute," Constable Pieter Schutte said.

The seal was then taken to the Rimmer Rd entrance of Muriwai Beach and returned to the sea, but wasn't too pleased about being back home.

"He spent ages walking along the shoreline before he finally went back in the water," says Const Schutte.

"I don't think he was very keen for a swim."

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