Seal-ed with a dent! Giant seal decides to sit on cars after nice stroll

A massive fur seal terrorised a suburban town after the hefty mammal wandered from driveway to driveway, squashing cars before the police, who were led on a merry chase, managed to nab 'Mr Lou-Seal'

Residents in suburban Newstead in Tasmania were unable to leave their homes after the seal arrived in town early on Monday morning. Pics/Tasmania Police via Facebook 

A massive fur seal terrorised a suburban town in the Australian state of Tasmania on Monday after it crawled its way up on a suburban street, 50 kilometres from the ocean.

Dubbed “Lou-seal” by the police, the wayward animal wandered into Penquite Road in the Launceston suburb of Newstead in the early hours of Boxing Day, and sat on a parked car.

The seal resting

The adult male, estimated to weigh 200 kg, scrambled onto a car parked in a driveway and then jumped on to another car parked behind it. The seal was cordoned off by police while waiting for Parks and Wildlife officers to arrive, with people inside the house unable to leave for several hours.

“We got up and there was this great big seal on the roof of the car which is definitely not what you’d expect on Boxing Day,” said Newstead resident William Gregory told ABC News. “You kind of wake up and wonder, is this really happening, am I really seeing this or am I still dreaming?

Mr Lou-seal takes a nice stroll

Gregory said Lou-seal caused only minor damage to both cars. “We’ll replace the windscreen and pop a few dents out, they’re just old cars so it doesn’t really matter. It’s worth it," he said.

Wildlife biologist Rachel Alderman was not surprised Lou-Seal was out and about, given the large population of Australian fur seals in Tasmania. “Seals are inqu-isitive and could have been following food,” she said.

One of the car hoods the seal damaged

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