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A SEAL walked into the bar. Or to use the technical term, it increased rapidly.
The creature was apparently lost, curious and well below New Zealand’s legal drinking age. It buried itself under the dishwasher and showed no interest in calling a cab.
It was a wet, lazy Sunday evening when Baby Fur Seal was hanging out at Sprig + Fern The Meadows craft beer bar. Richmondon top of new zealand South IslandAddicted to seeing animals in pet-friendly bars, co-owner Bella Evans Before taking a closer look he assumed the visitor was a dog.
“Everyone was in shock,” Evans said. “Oh my God. What do we do? What’s happening?”
A patron grabbed a sweater and tried to shoo Seal out the back door. Escaping its pursuers, the creature ducked into a toilet and then hid under the dishwasher, which was swiftly turned off.
Another customer brought a dog crate from home, and Evans hatched a plan to lure the unruly visitor out of his hiding place using pizza being offered exclusively by the pub.
“I just went to my fiancé, I said, take the salmon! Take the salmon!”
Then we had to wait for a while for the conservation rangers to arrive. It turned out that they were already tracking the wandering seal.
“It was his fourth call for the day,” Evans said. “They were driving around this newly-built subdivision trying to find this baby seal.”
New Zealand’s conservation agency confirmed it had received “numerous” reports from the public about the seal seen in Richmond on Sunday, before the runaway turned up at the pub. Department of Conservation spokeswoman Helen Ottley said bar staff “did a great job of keeping the seals safe” until rangers arrived.
Oatley said the seal was released on nearby Rabbit Island, which is considered a safe location due to its dog-free status. It’s not unusual to see curious young seals in unexpected places at this time of year, he added, as they follow rivers and streams up to 15 kilometers (9 miles) inland.
“They may come to unusual places like this pub, but this is normal exploratory behaviour,” Oatley said.
Successful conservation programs in New Zealand have resulted in seal and sea lion populations increasing, bringing them into closer contact with humans than before. Scientist Both species refer to an annual “foolish season”, a period of months during which they regularly appear in strange places – homes, golf courses or busy streets.
Evans, who has owned the pub with his partner for a few months, said the baby fur seal was the first unruly patron they had to evict. But he said the animal, which staff have named Fern, is welcome back.
“There’s this joke that we’ve got the seal of approval,” he said.
Salmon will be on the menu.