The 200kg mammal had to be tranquillised after climbing on to a car in suburban Launceston

A giant fur seal that spent Boxing Day wandering suburban Tasmania’s streets will be released back into the wild.

Police, and parks and sildlife officers spent much of Monday morning trying to capture the seal, which took a stroll along the streets in Newstead, Launceston – at one point managing to climb on to a car.

People were warned to stay away from the giant sea mammal to avoid agitating it but the seal managed to become quite a celebrity in the suburb as news spread. The animal, estimated as about 200kg, was tranquillised by parks and wildlife officers in the late morning – but not before it had left large dents and a broken windscreen on the car.

The adult male seal was first noticed shortly before 6am in the middle of a Penquite Road by a resident, Will Gregory. It made its presence felt, scrambling on to two cars that were parked in a driveway.

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“We got up and there was this great big seal on the roof of the car, which is definitely not what you’d expect on Boxing Day,” Gregory told the ABC. “You kind of wake up and you wonder, ‘Is this really happening, am I really seeing this or am I still dreaming?’”

Tasmania police said the seal would be checked for any medical problems before it was released. News footage showed police officers placing the heavy seal into the back of a caged trailer.

Newstead is more than 50km from the sea but next to the North Esk river, which flows into the Tamar river and out to Bass Strait.



Photos of the seal showed it had been tranquillised close to the front gate of a house. The seal also reportedly had a small snooze behind the car it had smashed.



