Dumbledore: Rescued Seal Named After ‘Harry Potter’ Character
A seal found stranded 20 miles from the ocean in a farmer’s field has been transferred to a rehabilitation center, where staff have decided to name the animal Dumbledore, after the famed Harry Potter character.
The seal was discovered in Newton-le-Willows, near St. Helens in Merseyside on Monday morning, according to the Telegraph, after becoming desperately lost and clambering into the field from a nearby brook. A dog-walker stumbled upon the seal, which authorities described as “distressed,” around 9:45 a.m., sparking a rescue operation that included emergency services and the RSPCA.
Aw seriously? Seal found in farmer’s field near Warrington named ‘Dumbledore’ http://t.co/HIE5Igwgvp pic.twitter.com/9WLhJbxela”
— TJ Harris (@TJHarris3) December 26, 2014
The animal was transferred to the RSPCA’s specialist seal treatment facility in East Winch, Norfolk, on Tuesday. Alison Charles, manager of RSPCA East Winch, noted that staff had given the seal a new name, based on their current theme.
“The big lad is now called Dumbledore. He is much more settled but needs a lot of vet attention in the coming days,” she observed. “He has horrible thick nasal discharge and still looks very sorry for himself but other than that he is quite lively and quite large so we need to handle him very carefully with our expert team of adult seal handlers.”
Stranded seal found in a Merseyside field named Dumbledore: http://t.co/2TkZ6OIJ8D (Pic: RSPCA) pic.twitter.com/vyWZIbpujv — The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 26, 2014
Dumbledore suffered a head injury sometime during the adventure that brought him inland, and though staff at the facility are optimistic that the seal will make a full recovery, they caution that it is still far too early to tell how he will respond to long-term care.
“He certainly seems lively now, and was pretty listless when he first came into our care, so that’s a good sign,” Charles noted. “Until we get the blood tests back (which will be after Christmas as the labs are shut) we won’t know more about his overall condition.”
The facility names the animals that come into their care according to a popular theme, according to the Independent. The current theme centers around Harry Potter characters, which is why the staff decided to call the seal Dumbledore.
Seal found in field is named ‘Dumbledore’ – he’s making progress after head injury http://t.co/AFmqVnWCfg pic.twitter.com/gCek9v0Qyi
— ITV Granada Reports (@GranadaReports) December 26, 2014
Over the last few years, a colony of seals off the English coast have formed an unlikely bond with a local diver. As the Inquisitr previously reported, several videos of the interactions between Ben Burville and the seals have gone viral.
Dumbledore will remain at the seal treatment facility into the new year, as staff caution it will take some time before he is released back into the wild.
[Image: Mercury Press via the Telegraph]
