{"id":225807,"date":"2026-01-03T20:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/225807\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T20:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:22:10","slug":"why-a-rspca-sussex-rescue-centre-is-taking-in-more-and-more-wild-seals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/225807\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a RSPCA Sussex rescue centre is taking in more and more wild seals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HannahHannah Roe\/BBC<\/p>\n

More call outs may be a positive sign the seal population is increasing, rescuers say<\/p>\n

Rescue charities say they have seen an influx of seals needing help and care this winter.<\/p>\n

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) say they have taken hundreds of calls about seals in distress on beaches in south-east England and taken many for care at RSPCA Mallydams Wood in East Sussex.<\/p>\n

BDMLR and the RSPCA say storms and human disturbance lead to pups becoming confused and separated from their mothers. <\/p>\n

During the ongoing grey seal pupping season the centre has “seen a few more coming in earlier than we normally would,” RSPCA wildlife assistant Penny Taberer said.<\/p>\n

Mallydams Wood has taken in seals from full centres elsewhere, she told the BBC.<\/p>\n

The centre has gone from taking in one seal per year a decade ago to 60 annually.<\/p>\n

Ms Taberer said there was “a horrendous cost” for fish supplies, medication, water bills and cleaning supplies associated with caring for the mammals.<\/p>\n

According to BDMLR, grey seal pupping season is a particularly busy time and the number of rescues may be a positive sign the population is increasing and more people are reporting injured animals.<\/p>\n

\"HannahHannah Roe\/BBC<\/p>\n

The RSPCA said the seal population was increasing and doing well<\/p>\n

BDMLR volunteer Sarah Kennett thinks there is “a much greater awareness now around our local marine life” and more people are calling the rescue organisation.<\/p>\n

“That’s a really positive thing that we’re able to uplift them to safety,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Taberer said the seal population was “on the up” and doing well, but that “chaotic weather” had led to more pups becoming separated from their mothers.<\/p>\n

Pups rely on their mother’s milk to grow and Ms Kennett said it was “really important that we keep the mum and the pup together”.<\/p>\n

She said it was “really key that people stay at least 50m away from a lone pup” and avoid scaring them back into the water, and that concerned members of the public should call rescuers instead.<\/p>\n

“We have sadly come across some bizarre situations where people think it’s safe to touch a seal, which is obviously endangering the animal,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s also endangering themselves. It’s very dangerous to get near a wild animal of any kind.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hannah Roe\/BBC More call outs may be a positive sign the seal population is increasing, rescuers say Rescue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-225807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}