A seal that shocked restaurant goers at an Auckland KFC has finally been caught after a big day out on the town.
At around 10am, the curious seal caused chaos in the Papakura KFC carpark, blocking traffic on nearby roads
"We thought there was a wet dog running past and turned around, it was a fully grown seal," eye witness Jonny Wimpress told 1News.
He described the chaotic scene as police tried to keep it from harming itself.
"It went straight across the road and the police had already turned up trying to corner it in. It ran across the main highway and then into some residential houses. It was just causing chaos in people's gardens. A lot of people came out from their houses to look at it," said Wimpress.
Waddling around the area, the marine mammal proved to be slippery, evading police and hiding in gardens.
It was eventually cornered after going down a driveway on Coles Cresent, and a police cordon was quickly established.
Soon after, Department of Conservation (DOC) officials and workers from Auckland Zoo came to wrangle it.
The seemingly hungry seal was escorted away in the back of a truck by 5.40pm.
How did the seal end up so far inland?
Police eventually arrived on the scene to try and move the seemingly hungry mammal on. Source: Jonny Wimpress. (Source: Supplied)
Helen Rowlands, Operations Manager for DOC, had some insight on where the seal might have emerged from.
"The seal has possibly come into the Papakura area from the Pahurehure inlet. Seals are exploratory by nature and often make their way into urban areas," she said.
"The Department of Conservation is supporting the police to manage the seal and ensure it is not causing harm to itself or people. We have a trained volunteer on site, and DOC staff are working on options to usher or transport the seal back to the water."
DOC advised young male seals of any age and newly independent pups can be spotted leaving their colonies between May and September as they explore the world around them.
"Fur seal populations are recovering quickly. This means people need to be prepared to encounter seals anywhere around our coastline, even in areas where they haven’t seen seals before, and particularly over the winter months," said DOC Marine Science Advisor Laura Boren.
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