A seal pup that was hardly alive when it was found in Reykjavík harbour earlier this week is recovering well at Reykjavík Zoo, RÚV reports. Reykjavík Animal Services are treating the pup and plan to release it back into the wild.
“It was in really bad condition. It was exhausted and hungry. It didn’t come to until I bent over it,” said Veigar Friðgeirsson, a Reykjavík Animal Services staff member.
Asked what caused the seal pup’s poor condition, Veigar stated: “What is most likely is that its mother simply stopped breastfeeding it and giving it food. The proportion of young seals that die in this way is actually fairly high.”
Veigar says the seal pup is recovering well. “We started by pumping water into it, and vitamins. It responded well to that. Now, in consultation with a veterinarian, it gets a fish shake four to five times a day. Then we’re going to try to give it a whole fish soon. I’m very optimistic.”
The rescued seal pup’s sex is not known, but it will be named Veiga or Veigar after its caretaker, who expects it to make a full recovery. “We want wild animals to live in the wild, so we’ll try to return it to the sea if that’s possible,” he stated.
