these cows get my seal of approval.
Seal pups can swim and dive when they’re just a few hours old.
seal pup! Dog
CROY, SCOTLAND
Seal
LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND
12
AUGUST 2016
Sheep
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA
Lincolnshire, England Ian Ellis was bird-watching at the Frampton Marsh Nature Reserve when he spotted a large group of cows gathered around a mud puddle. Moving closer, he was surprised to see a stranded baby seal. Ellis and the reserve’s Toby Collett placed the seal in a cardboard box and carefully carried it back to Collett’s office. “It was licking my arm, so we knew it wanted some food,” Collett says. “But I don’t keep seal milk in my office!” Unfortunately stranded seal pups aren’t unusual, but being discovered by cows definitely is. “It’s good they spotted her so she could be brought in so quickly,” says Richard Yeadon, owner of the Skegness Natureland Seal Sanctuary, where the animal was eventually taken. Cows are frequent visitors to the nature reserve, but such a loud, large group of them clustered together isn’t a common sight. A few of them likely came across the seal and drew more cows in with their loud mooing. “Cows are curious animals,” Collett says. “They found this alien object—the seal—and wanted to check it out up close.” At the sanctuary, the seal was given fluids, antibiotics, plenty of fish, and a name: Celebration. Then, after just a few weeks, the seal was successfully released back into the wild—all thanks to a group of cows. —Sara Schwartz
WENDY KREEFTENBERG / MINDEN PICTURES (SEAL PUP); COURTESY OF MR. IAN ELLIS AND SKEGNESS NATURELAND SEAL SANCTUARY (CELEBRATION AND COWS); COURTESY OF RSPCA ACT (CHRIS, BOTH); © HEMEDIA / SWNS GROUP © SWNS GROUP (PADDY, ALL)