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Rescued seal pups push Norfolk RSPCA hospital to capacity

PA Media A seal pupPA Media
It is pupping season and there were many young seals on Norfolk's beaches, which may have lost their mothers

An animal rescue charity said recent storms had seen it take in a further 15 seal pups, pushing it to capacity.

The RSPCA's hospital at East Winch in Norfolk was already caring for some 25 seals as well as 200 hedgehogs and other wildlife.

The charity said: "Sadly the storms have caused huge issues for our poor wildlife up and down the coastline."

It was now trying to find more room to take in abandoned seal pups.

Norfolk has large seal colonies at beaches including Blakeney Point, Horsey and Winterton and the winter breeding season produces thousands of pups.

"We are continuing to take in seal pups in need of our assistance, and while we are reaching capacity quickly, we are trying to make more spaces available," an RSPCA spokesman said.

"Wildlife rescuers are doing all they can to help as many as they can during these very difficult times."

RSPCA Injured seal pups at East Winch Wildlife CentreRSPCA
Injured seal pups at the RSPCA's East Winch Wildlife Centre near King's Lynn
Shaun Whitmore/BBC Sally ButlerShaun Whitmore/BBC
Sally Butler said she feared further storms would separate more vulnerable pups from their mothers

On Wednesday, people were being warned not to approach seals and their pups, as stormy weather was driving them further up beaches, meaning walkers were more likely to stumble across them.

Sally Butler, a trustee of the Friends of Horsey Seals volunteers group on the east coast of Norfolk, said: "The situation's only going to get worse, I'm afraid, so there are going to be a lot more abandoned pups about."

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