It seems to be a normal day when a family in the New Zealand capital Wellington looks out of the window onto their veranda.
But then suddenly they are taken aback. Someone has actually made themselves comfortable right outside their door and is sleeping the sleep of the just.
Allow me: Arctocephalus forsteri
The sleepy fellow is neither a human nor a neighbourhood pet.
It is a New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri).
The species is native to the South Island of New Zealand, the south coast of Australia and some islands in between.
It belongs to the seal family and can reach a fairly impressive size. Bulls can grow to 250 centimetres long and weigh 180 kilograms.
However, the dreamy fellow on the veranda is still a long way from that. He is still a young animal.
Young hikers on tour
Now is the time when the weaned offspring of the fur seals often move away from the colonies and wander around the area a bit.
The fact that this youngster has made it this far onto the family’s veranda is nevertheless astonishing.
Actually, the juvenile wanderers stay close to the shore.
This junior must have climbed the steps of the sea wall, crossed a road, walked along a footpath and finally climbed another flight of stairs.
No wonder he is now treating himself to a little nap.
Sleepyhead brought to safety
However, his wanderlust is not entirely harmless for the little one. There are dogs here that might not be very friendly towards him.
And of course there are cars on the road nearby. So it is clear that the nice sleepyhead should be taken to a safe place as quickly as possible.
Some employees of the Department of Conservation take on this task.
Fortunately, the young fur seal takes it quite graciously when he is brought back to reality from the land of dreams.
The people take him to a place on the coast without dogs and traffic. There he can now sleep as long and as deeply as he likes. Good night, little sea bear.
Source: The Dodo
