Key points:
An elderly seal has been euthanased after becoming lost on a south-west Victorian farm
A dairy farmer found the seal in a paddock on Sunday
It is suspected the seal made its way inland through local rivers
The seal was first spotted on a property at Simpson, in south-west Victoria, on Sunday in the middle of a cow paddock.
Melbourne Zoo’s Marine Response Unit was sent to the scene today as the Australian fur seal continued to travel across farmland away from the ocean.
Melbourne Zoo head veterinarian Michael Lynch said the plan had been to determine the next steps to appropriately care for the animal.
“Today’s intervention was required after the seal failed to find a way back to the open ocean along the same path it used to arrive at the farm,” Dr Lynch said.
“On assessment the seal was found to be elderly, and suffering from blindness in one eye and dental fractures.
“It was determined that euthanasia was the kindest welfare outcome as the seal would have been unable to forage and live naturally in the wild.”
A necropsy will be conducted in the coming days.
Shock find for farmer
Dairy farmer Karli McGee said she had been completely shocked when she first saw the seal.
“We could see something brown moving in the distance. We thought we better go check that out,” she told ABC Ballarat’s Breakfast program.
“We went in the tractor down to the paddock and first thought it was a pig. When it got up and started moving, we saw it was definitely not a pig, it was a seal.”
Vets travelled from Melbourne to assess the seal’s health (Supplied: Karli McGee)
Ms McGee said her property was beside bushland and she suspected the seal had travelled from the ocean through local rivers.
She said it was hard to believe the seal had made it so far from its usual habitat.
“All the locals are in shock. A lot of them know where we live. We are not near the beach, so it is a bit of a surprise,” she said.
Ms McGee said she had contacted the Victorian Fisheries Authority after the find and was referred to Melbourne Zoo.
She said she had been taking photos and videos of the seal and speaking to wildlife rescuers every day.
The seal was estimated to weigh between 150 to 160 kilograms.
