Badly injured seal pup nursed back to health after 140-mile journey

By Rory Gannon via SWNS

A seal pup that was badly injured has been nursed back to health at a sanctuary - over 140 miles away from where he was found. 

The pup, named Zebedee, was discovered alone on a beach near North Wales, UK, suffering from serious head injuries.

Local rescue centers were at capacity, so the seal was driven 140 miles to Animal Rescue Cumbria. 

Sarah Neill, a marine biologist and representative for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) kindly gave up her vacation time to care for the distressed creature.  

She said: “Trying to get the pup here was a long journey…we weren’t even sure if he was going to survive the trip.”

Zebedee needed urgent treatment for his injuries when he arrived on August 12, but he has since bounced back to health.

“He was so subdued, malnourished, and dehydrated on admission that it was unclear whether he’d even make it through the night,” said reps for BDMLR in a statement. 

The pup spent 11 days in intensive care at the center and needed to be fed and watered through a tube.

But it wasn’t long before the doe-eyed mammal began to recover from his wounds. 

Zebedee was then weaned off fish soup and given whole fish, which increased his alertness. 

Neill said: “Getting him onto whole fish was a messy task, he didn’t really know what to do with himself. There was fish on the walls for ages!”

The semiaquatic cutie has since made a significant recovery and has been taken to the RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Hospital in Cheshire, UK. 

A spokesperson for BDMLR said: “He has made such an amazing transformation and is also now capable of feeding himself, so we are hoping he will make even more progress [at the hospital].”

The pup will be given space in isolation and long-term rehabilitation care. 

He will later be introduced to other seals for socialization. 

Zebedee will stay in the hospital until he makes a full recovery and is expected to be returned to North Wales, in the UK next spring.