A happy Christmas in store for seals

Grey seal pup in the care of the RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre

02.12.09

The RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre is looking forward to the Christmas shopping season with more than 35 grey seals.

Four seal pups have been named after shops and the centre is appealing to local shops and businesses for a minimum donation of £10 in return for the opportunity to sponsor a seal and give it a name.

'Knickerbox', a grey seal pup came into the centre from Jersey where she was found orphaned by the British Divers and Marine Life Rescue. She came to East Winch on Friday 13 November for specialist treatment.

Knickerbox weighs just 9.4kgs and still has her white baby coat.

'Animal', 'Jane Norman' and 'Iceland'
Three other pups came to East Winch at the same time. 'Animal' came from Boscastle in Cornwall and has respiratory problems; 'Jane Norman' came all the way from the Scilly Isles and 'Iceland' came from St Ives and has a deep infected wound on his chin.

There are 35 seals at East Winch altogether, including two from Ireland, two from North East England and another from Jersey. This number is set to increase as the amount of seals coming to the centre from the East coast often rises after Christmas.

Specialists in caring for seals
East Winch Wildlife Centre manager, Alison Charles said: "We take in seals from all over the country because of the specialist facilities we have developed caring for seals for the last 21 years.

"It is the grey seal pupping season but the huge storms hitting the South Coast have led to large numbers of orphaned pups needing care as they are too young to survive on their own.

Our job is to nurse sick, injured and weak animals back to health and prepare them for a life in the wild as soon as they are able to fend for themselves.

Each year, East Winch cares for approximately 150 seal pups. It costs £20 per week and an average of four months to care for and rehabilitate each pup.