Animal diaries
This is your exclusive peek into RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre! Join us every two weeks, as we check up on our wild animal guests. Staff are with them every step of the way, helping them on their journey back into the wild.
14 Nov 2024
New arrivals
Hi Next Gen readers! Welcome to Animal diaries. We’re currently at RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre in Somerset, where we welcomed four super sweet arrivals.
Meet grey seal pups Nobbly Bobbly, Cornetto, Mini Milk and Calippo!
Staff have been busy giving them health checks and getting them safely settled into cosy indoor cubicles. Each pup is starting their recovery journey in their very own indoor cubicle, with a paddling pool and heat lamp.
Staff keep a close eye on them at this stage, and lend a helping hand at mealtimes. All four pups are too young to tackle whole fish by themselves, but they're all learning fast.
Meet the pups
Nobbly Bobbly
Nobbly Bobbly is our biggest pup at 30.7kg and he’s grown-up enough to be hand-fed fish. We rescued him from a beach in Devon, after he was seperated from his mum in a storm. He has
a wound on his left hind flipper, which our staff are keeping clean.
Nobbly Bobbly's a sleepy boy, who loves an underwater snooze! That’s one way of getting cosy…
Cornetto
Cornetto is our only female pup at West Hatch Wildlife Centre. She was very thirsty and underweight when our rescuers found her. She’s had some fish soup and is already chewing on some solid bits of fish. She's quite a messy eater, and gets her food all over her face, as you can see from this picture!
Cornetto is a calm, curious pup. She's interested in staff and loves watching them come and go.
Mini Milk
Mini Milk was rescued by RSPCA Inspector Ellie, from a beach in Wales. He's underweight, weighing 15.7kg, and is being being fed with fish-soup. Staff have also left some pieces of fish in his cubicle to encourage him to eat by himself and to keep him interested.
Mini Milk is social pup who’s loving all the attention he’s getting from staff. He loves posing for a picture!
Calippo
We rescued little Calippo because he was so thin. He weighs 10kg – that’s 3kg less than a normal birth weight for a pup! He has an infected flipper, which our vet is treating with antibiotics. He’s had some fluids, and is warming up under a heat lamp.
Calippo likes his own space, and grumbles at us to stay away! We're letting him relax in peace.