Sealvester the seal, a much loved recent visitor to Sydney’s Rushcutters Bay Park, has died on his way to the Taronga Wildlife Hospital today.
The hospital confirmed the sad news to ABC who reported Sealvester had been sedated in order to treat flipper and eye wounds when he died in the van on the way to the hospital. Sealvester was also reportedly underweight.
The furry seal was first spotted in the area in late March and became quite the social media spot for both locals and tourists in the area, especially because he liked to make his way into the park and sunbathe for hours each day.
ABC News reports that staff at Taronga Wildlife chose to treat Sealvester when his condition appeared to grow worse.
Vet officer Kimberly Vinette Herrin said,
“We saw he had lost quite a bit of weight so we anesthetised him to examine his eye and flipper wounds with the aim of having a look at him a little closer… He was about 140kg — a seal that age and that size should probably weigh 205kg or a little more.”
Herrin told ABC News that the anaesthetise could have played a part in Sealvester’s death but the decision was a necessary step in order to treat him.
“The last thing we wanted for him was to slowly deteriorate and die a really uncomfortable death.”
Just last week, Sealvester was barred from entering the park by the council of City of Sydney who put up a fence which blocked him from entering. Although that night, locals gathered to make a gap in the fence so Sealvester could crawl through and continue to sunbathe during the day. The fence was then moved some distance away so Sealvester could still reach the foreshore.
Locals really loved him.
Sealvester’s admirers have taken to Twitter to share their sadness.
Oh, how very sad. I was so hopeful that we could go to see him at Taronga or that he would be returned to the ocean. Poor #Sealvester https://t.co/zCRcgh7fUi
— Jane Needham SC (@JaneNeedhamSC) April 5, 2018
RIP Sealvester. May you be sunning your fat seal belly up in seal heaven
— Nadia Daly (@nadiasdaly) April 5, 2018
No words. 😓 A day of national morning.
— Pablo Viñales (@pablovinales) April 5, 2018
