Tasmanians warned of ‘loving Neil to death’ as 1,000kg seal’s antics feed ‘double-edged sword’ of fame

Large, potentially dangerous animals in some cases have to be euthanised if there is risky behaviour by the public, wildlife official says

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Wildlife officials have warned people to give Neil the seal space during his visit to Tasmania, saying some have gone so far as to bring their human babies close to the 1,000kg giant for a photo.

Neil, a southern elephant seal, was born in Tasmania in October 2020, but his existence is an anomaly: most of his kind live thousands of kilometres south on the subantarctic Macquarie and Heard islands. Elephant seals return multiple times a year to the area where they were born to moult, breed – or in Neil’s case, rest and learn how to play fight.