A very lost seal may live to see another Christmas after a holiday traveller in New Zealand took it on a 50km journey to return it to the sea.
NZ police are praising the good samaritan after he stopped his ute on State Highway 29 in inland Waikato after being flagged down by a couple who had narrowly missed the mammal.
"He was a bit dubious considering just how far Hinuera (in Waikato) is from the ocean but sure enough there the mammal was, lying in the grass with river weed all over it by the side of the road," Senior Sergeant Rupert Friend said.
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After protecting the mammal while it made its way into a nearby paddock, the man was told by the Department of Conservation it would simply be faster to drive the seal back to Tauranga himself.
With the seal getting more agitated and nearby horses posing a danger, he took instructions over the phone from DOC, throwing a blanket over the animal and getting it on to his ute with the help of two other people.
"He then drove over the mountains where he met the ranger near Tauranga and the transfer was completed, allowing the return of the seal to the ocean," Senior Sergeant Friend said.
