On New Year’s Day, seal pup Freek was brought to the shelter on Texel. He was in very bad shape at that time. Zookeepers therefore gave Freek a solution of salt and minerals to restore the fluid balance. But the animal spat the liquid out again and some more came out as well pieces of plastic and wood along.
In the following days it was very important that Freek would get stronger again. He weighed barely 12 kilos, while a healthy puppy of his age weighs 20 kilos. Zookeepers kept a close eye on the animal and tried to feed it additional fish. “It didn’t improve very quickly, but it did seem to be getting a little better. It wasn’t that the zookeepers were very worried,” says Marion Barth of Ecomare Texel.
Death in residence
But despite the small steps in the right direction, Freek did not make it. “Unfortunately, bad news. He died during the day on Saturday. Zookeepers entered the quarantine enclosure and then they saw that he had died,” says Marion.
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