West Midland Safari Park in 'Keith' the Stourport seal rescue bid
West Midland Safari Park has stepped in to help relocate a seal that has been spotted up and down the River Severn after fears it could be shot.
Bob Lawrence, director of wildlife at the Bewdley attraction, has been on alert since police called him to help capture the creature, when it was spotted in the snow on the side of a riverside road in Shrawley near Stourport.
"It was just getting dark when I received the call on Friday. I gathered my trailer and catching poles, but by the time I got there it had long gone, probably back into the river," said Mr
Lawrence. "If we can find him on dry land again maybe we could catch him and take him back to the sea. It might take two or three people and even tranquilisers.
"I will be contacting Natural England to see what we should do and where we should take it."
Customers and staff at the nearby Lenchford Inn did a double-take when they spotted the seal.
David Taylor, the pub's owner, added: "Around 10 or 15 people all drove up to see it and they managed to encourage it back into the river.
"Goodness knows how it got there. It's just lucky it wasn't hit," he said. It comes after the Angling Trust said it would apply for a licence to shoot the animal, nicknamed Keith by some and Bob by others, as a "last resort" to protect fish stocks. The organisation has since stressed that it is doing "everything possible to get the seal back out to sea without it being harmed."
Meanwhile, supporters of Keith, who is actually thought to be female, have set up a Facebook campaign group and printed T-shirts since she was first spotted in October last year.
And a petition calling on the Environment Agency to relocate Keith has attracted more than 3,500 signatures, some from as far afield as Malaysia.
