The RSPCA has shared a positive update on the seal pup who travelled 300 miles from Scotland to Bristol.
On January 2, the seal, nicknamed Nacho, was discovered at the Old Lock and Weir pub in Keynsham before being taken in by the RSPCA.
The poorly pup had travelled all the way from Scotland on November 9 before ending in a Bristol boozer at the start of the month.
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When he was released in November in Scotland, he weighed 33kg, but he concerningly lost more than half his bodyweight throughout his journey south.
Nacho is a common seal, and as well as being underweight, he also has some puncture wounds on his hind flippers, so is being treated with antibiotics.
However, after a few weeks of care at the RSPCA Centre in West Hatch, Somerset, Nacho is showing positive signs of recovery.
A spokesperson at the RSPCA Centre in West Hatch said: "Nacho is doing well. He is still in the indoor care section at West Hatch but is now on 800g of fish per feed and at the end of last week he weighed 16.4kg, which is up from the 14 kg on his admission, which is really positive."
"Once he has put on a little more weight he will be moved outside to one of the pools, and then once he reaches 35kg+ he will be released."
The British Divers Marine Life Rescue called to help rescue Nacho who was then transported to RSPCA West Hatch in Somerset to be checked over by the wildlife team.
Earlier this month, Paul Oaten, Wildlife Supervisor at West Hatch said: “It’s certainly unusual for a seal to turn up at a pub like Nacho did! The River Avon runs from the coast all the way along through Keynsham where the pub is situated at the water’s edge, so it’s likely he found his way there swimming upstream from the coast.
“Unfortunately, poor Nacho is really underweight and at around six months old it’s quite concerning. What’s interesting is that Nacho has an identification tag on his fin, and from this, we were able to find out more about him and where he has come from."
Paul added: “It seems Nacho was taken into the care of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) in the summer as a very young pup, and he was released into the wild on 9 November at a good healthy weight of 33kg.
"Sadly now, Nacho weighs just 14kg, so during the last couple of months not only has he travelled some 300 miles from Scotland, he’s also lost more than half of his body weight.
"We’re hoping Nacho will make a good recovery with time, care and plenty of food so that if we are able to build him up to a healthy weight again we can release him into the wild once more and hopefully he’ll keep himself healthy."
Nacho will be initially looked after in the centre's intensive care pens before later being moved into another pool where they can gain weight and begin self-feeding as they get ready for their release.
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