See video of baby seal waddling into New Zealand pub
Sprig + Fern The Meadows customers and staff were surprised to see this unexpected visitor… a baby seal that wandered in.
A seal pup left customers and staff stunned when it waddled into a pub in New Zealand.
Video footage from Nov. 30 shows the adorable seal waddling into Sprig + Fern The Meadows in Richmond on South Island’s northern tip, about 160 miles from the capital Wellington.
“Well… this is a first,” the pub said in a Nov. 30 post on social media. “Today we had the cutest, unexpected visitor wander into the pub.”
Sprig + Fern The Meadows said the seal “wandered in all on its own for a little look around” shortly around 5:15 p.m. local time and stole “the show.”
The pub’s co-owner Isabella Evans told Storyful staff she was serving customers and decorating the premises when the seal appeared and was in the pub for around 30 minutes.
Evans told local news outlet 1News that pub visitors began to panic, and no one knew what to do. As one customer tried to guide the seal outside using his jersey, the pup ran into the bathroom, where it stayed for a while before a customer lured it into a dog crate using salmon.
Seal captured and released into the wild
Shortly after, the Department of Conservation “popped in” and “safely picked up the pup to make sure it’s all good and back where it should be,” the pub said.
A Department of Conservation (DOC) principal biodiversity ranger told 1News that they were alerted to a young New Zealand fur seal in Richmond.
“The duty ranger went and looked in the area where the seal had been seen several times but was unable to locate the seal,” the officer told 1News.
The seal was later released at Rabbit Island, a small island north of Richmond, according to 1News.
“You truly never know who’s stopping by next,” the pub said.
‘Surprise scaly visitor’
In an interesting turn of events, the pub had another wild visitor just the next day as a bearded dragon swung by and “made himself very at home,” while his owner enjoyed a drink.
“We’ve officially turned into a zoo,” the pub said in a Dec. 1 post on Facebook. “Sunshine, sips, and surprise scaly visitors… just another day at Sprig.”
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.