Neil the Seal Steals Parking Spots and Hearts in Tasmania

Dec 22

Dec 22 Neil the Seal Steals Parking Spots and Hearts in Tasmania

On the coast of southern Tasmania, a 1,300-pound southern elephant seal has been plopping his prodigious girth on beaches, in driveways, on the road, and on front lawns. The 3-year-old, dubbed Neil the Seal by the locals, has a special fondness for traffic cones, which he plays with and gnaws on like a toddler with a pram toy.

Neil was born on a beach on the Tasman Peninsula not far from Hobart, possibly because his mother was lost, according to ecologist Clive R. McMahon. Elephant seals “will habitually return to the places where they were born — so that’s probably why Neil thinks this is his home,” McMahon tells the New York Times. Normally seals spend most of their time at sea, gorging on fish, but they come ashore for several weeks each year to molt their fur. But Neil is unique with his persistent visits to communities.

As charming as Neil may be, every close encounter with humans is a potential tragedy. “As soon as you give them a name, people think of them as being like humans,” anthrozoologist Bruce Englefield tells Yahoo News Australia. “It creates a problem of thinking he's lovely and cuddly, but he’s not — he’s a 400kg wild animal who could kill you.”

The danger to humans is real, but Neil is at risk too. Even if the interspecies socializing is friendly, Neil might become habituated to people, which could imperil his long-term survival in the wild. If he does thrive he will continue to grow, up to 16 feet long weighing more than 7,500 pounds.

Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment decided earlier this year that Neil’s proximity to people was posing a danger, so they captured and moved the friendly creature to an undisclosed and more secluded location. He wears a GPS tag on his head, but it might not be necessary for tracking him because he keeps coming back.

We hope people can respect Neil’s space and leave the guy alone because, as we learned from the Freya the walrus tragedy this year in Norway, humans tend to have an itchy trigger finger.

You can follow Neil the seal’s exploits (without getting too close) via Instagram at neiltheseal22.