{"id":778653,"date":"2026-07-04T14:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/778653\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T14:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:15:13","slug":"neil-the-seal-has-close-call-with-fuel-bowser-at-tasmanian-service-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/778653\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil the seal has close call with fuel bowser at Tasmanian service station"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil the seal has had a close call with a fuel bowser in Hobart this evening, with wildlife authorities rushing to shoo the elephant seal away from the pumps before he got too close.<\/p>\n

The playful 1,000-kilogram seal has been drawing large crowds to a beachside suburb in greater Hobart, with his antics on the road forcing Clarence Council to shut down a main route through the area today.<\/p>\n

Some residents were left driving an extra 10 minutes to get home the long way.<\/p>\n

Mukta Rohman, owner of the local service station, said Neil had not caused any damage to the servo but was grateful wildlife staff acted quickly.<\/p>\n

\"\"Neil the seal has made himself at home outside a service station in southern Tasmania. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people have been doing their job really well and they\u2019ve been redirecting him really well,\u201d Rohman told Pulse.<\/p>\n

He said marine conservation staff had asked the store to turn off its lights early tonight in case the brightness was drawing the seal closer.<\/p>\n

\"\"Neil the seal had a close call with a fuel bowser in a greater Hobart suburb<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re cooperating with them as best as we can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rohman described Neil as \u201clike a lucky charm\u201d for the area, saying the seal\u2019s fame had lifted spirits.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously with the negativity that\u2019s been going around\u2026 it\u2019s good to see a fellow friend who came two years ago as well, who\u2019s down here again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people have made their way to the area to catch a glimpse of the seal, but authorities have warned the attention could have serious consequences.<\/p>\n

\"\"Thousands have gathered to catch a glimpse of Neil the seal in recent days. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

Almost 20,000 people have now signed a petition urging the state government to guarantee a non-lethal management plan for Neil and to rule out euthanasia, after a wildlife official warned it could not be taken off the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cEuthanasia is an irreversible action that must be completely ruled out,\u201d the petition reads.<\/p>\n

It calls for restricted access zones around Neil and fines for anyone who disturbs him.<\/p>\n

Kris Carlyon, who runs the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania\u2019s wildlife health and marine section, said some people were behaving dangerously around the seal.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wildlife officers have spent the day managing Neil as he blocks the road in a suburban area. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a risk here of essentially loving Neil to death,\u201d Carlyon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen examples around the world where large, potentially dangerous animals have had to be euthanised if this risky behaviour by the public results in an unmanageable safety concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said euthanasia was not the department\u2019s preferred approach but could not be ruled out if the public did not keep its distance.<\/p>\n

Carlyon said people were carrying small babies close to Neil for photos and leaving food near him.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wildlife officers have spent the day managing Neil as he blocks the road in a suburban area. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

Authorities are asking visitors to stay at least 20 metres away and keep dogs on leads at least 50 metres back.<\/p>\n

Neil was born in south-east Tasmania in 2020 and is expected to eventually reach around three tonnes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Neil the seal has had a close call with a fuel bowser in Hobart this evening, with wildlife…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-778653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}