uk.environment.conservation

Andre's safety sealed by deal with angry anglers
GEORGE MAIR

A SEAL which faced the death sentence for eating too many fish
yesterday won an indefinite stay of execution.

Animal welfare officers announced last night that the adult grey seal,
named Andre by locals after a seal in a children’s film, would not be
shot.

Anglers had threatened to kill the animal because he was feeding on
fish in the River Leven at Balloch, West Dunbartonshire.

The announcement follows pressure from the media and hundreds of
locals who turned out in support of the seal and to protest against
the proposed shoot.

Rescuers, desperate to return the animal to the sea after it became
trapped in shallow waters just south of Balloch, will now resume the
operation early on Sunday. Until then the area will be policed by
Scottish SPCA staff and Lomond and Trossachs Rangers.

The rescue co-ordinator, Gareth Norman, of British Divers Marine Life
Rescue, said that after 48 hours of trying to net Andre safely, the
seal had evaded capture.

On Sunday, up to 30 marine rescue experts will lower a large, weighted
net to the river bed, with guy-lines stretching to either shore, in an
attempt to stop the seal escaping. He will then be transported to
Fife, where he will be released among a colony of grey seals.

Mr Norman said: "The anglers who wanted to shoot Andre have given a
stay of execution indefinitely while we put together new plans for a
rescue on Sunday."

Scottish SPCA inspector for Dunbartonshire, Nicki Scott, said anyone
attempting to kill or harm the seal would be prosecuted.