Charity leads call for Stourport seal protection
The RSPCA has called for a seal spotted in a Midland river to be protected after anglers revealed they wanted the creature to be shot.
Members of the Angling Trust said they must do what they could to protect fish stocks in the River Severn which bring anglers to the region.
Environment Agency officials say the animal, which has been spotted in Stourport and Bewdley, should be left to find its own way back to the sea.
The seal has been given several nicknames including Bob and Keith by residents who have flocked to Stourport in attempt to spot him in the marina.
Workers there claim he was first seen last October and was also pictures in the river at Worcester and Bewdley. In a statement, the Angling Trust said: "As a last resort to protect fish stocks the Angling Trust has been forced, on behalf of its member clubs, to contact Natural England to secure a licence to shoot the seal using a qualified marksman if no other solution can be found.
"Although this option will clearly be highly unpopular with the crowds of people who have come down to watch the seal, it may be the only course of action available to save the fishery from being irreparably damaged by this predator which has got stuck above several locks and weirs.
"Seal populations are extremely healthy around the UK coastline and numbers have grown rapidly in recent years."
RSPCA spokeswoman Katya Mira said: "We can say that we don't think there is any need for this seal to be shot. It is a wild animal which has ventured away from the sea – not an unusual occurrence. Seals will normally find their own way back to the sea."
