A seal causing a splash in Papakura will be released to a west Auckland beach, the Department of Conservation says.
The seal was spotted hopping across gardens and driveways along Great South Road on Friday morning.
Police were hot on it’s tail. At 1pm, a police spokesperson said officers had been busy “sealing off” the area along Coles Crescent to make sure the “furry friend is kept safe”.
“It appears a seal is trying out their land flippers,” the spokesperson said.
At 7.30pm on Friday, a DOC spokesperson said its staff, and Auckland Zoo staff captured the seal in a cage, “to be transported and released to a quieter West Auckland beach habitat”.
Connor Duffus, a local worker, spotted the seal as it “bounded across” the Domino’s driveway around 10.30am.
It was like the size of a golden retriever,” he said.
Helen Rowlands, acting operations manager at DOC, said the seal likely paddled to Papakura from the Pahurehure inlet.
In 2015, firefighters and police officers, made a contraption from sheets of plywood and old gates to usher a seal from a south Auckland street.
