One tonne Neil the seal crushes cars and ‘respects nothing’ but could meet tragic end

An enormous and potentially dangerous animal in some cases have to be euthanized if there is risky behaviour by the public, wildlife official says

A gigantic one-tonne seal who “respects nothing” has bulldozed his way through an Australian town, clearing traffic, fences and bollards in his way.

The seal, Neil, returns to Tasmania most years, but this winter has been pure chaos. Even LandCruisers are no match for this five-year-old elephant seal, who has become such a menace it is now a matter for local policy makers.

“He’s one of our biggest exports at the moment,” said Dale Creamer, who lives in one of the southern towns Neil is trashing, “It’s Neil’s world, and we’re just living in it.” It is normal for a seal of Neil’s age to be boisterous, and pick fights. But Neil is already the weight of a small car and his fights are not with other seals, but with the traffic barriers constructed in his name to keep locals, and indeed cars, safe.

Although he is a national treasure now, Neil could ultimately grow to be 3,500kg and about 4.5 metres long, the same size as an adult male rhino or hippo. This could leave his teenager antics less amusing, and even more disastrous.

“Neil’s fame is a bit of a double-edged sword,” said Kris Carlyon from Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment at a news conference in Hobart on Thursday, in which he asked the seal’s fans to give him privacy.

“We have had some pretty silly behavior, instances with people carrying their small babies up close to him and simply trying to get that shot for Instagram.”

“There is a risk here of essentially loving Neil to death,” Carlyon said. Tragically, Carlyon said Neil may have to be euthanized if he becomes more dangerous.

“We have seen examples around the world where large, potentially dangerous animals have had to be euthanised if there is risky behaviour by the public, resulting in an unmanageable safety concern,” Carlyon said.

He added: “He can look cute, cuddly [and] placid, but he’s a large marine predator – and we certainly wouldn’t be approaching things like polar bears [and] bison in other parts of the world.”

“He’s probably not the fastest mover, but if he runs into a car or decides to put his nose up on the bonnet, it’s not going to be too good,” said Rod Macdonald, the mayor of Tasman council, which covers the area where Neil was born in 2020.

“[But] he’s certainly been a bit of a celebrity, and he continues to earn his status.”

Independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said Neil is “the only bloke in Tasmania who can stop traffic, ignore everyone, and still be loved for it”.

Jane Younger, a senior lecturer and seal expert at the University of Tasmania, says Neil is just engaging in “normal seal behaviours”. Elephant seals return a few times a year to where they were born to moult, breed and socialise.

However, Niel is unusual in that he is one of very few of his kind who live in the area.

“He’s come back every year since he’s been born, but he’s bigger now,” Younger said, according to The Guardian. “He’s like 1,000 kilos at this point, and he’s obviously more capable of being a menace. He’s broken fences, he’s harassing people’s cars – that’s just a function of his size.

“The adult males are routinely more than 2 tonnes, the larger ones around three-and-a-half tonnes. So he could get much, much bigger than he is now.” Younger thinks that Neil, who should be a social species of animal, landed in Tasmania by mistake.

Dr Clive McMahon, a marine ecologist who specialises in elephant seals for three decades, said: “When he would normally encounter young males, they would spar with him, they would be training and … preparing themselves for when they’re adults.”

The science and operations manager at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science added: “[But] in the absence of other young males … he sort of has to learn his fighting behaviour or his social behaviours by doing things like sparring with bollards and traffic cones and various other things.”

“Unfortunately, poor old Neil, he’s probably looking for some of those things and is not really finding them. Often when you see him sleeping, you’ll see him squished up against a fence, and that’s probably part of him wanting to feel that there’s something else there.

“If we love seeing Neil, why not look after Neil’s environment and ensure that his environment is safe. I guess what I’m saying is, us as humans should really embrace the fact that we have the privilege to learn as much as we can about elephant seals, and also about the ocean.”