Norfolk: Days-old seal pups rescued after being abandoned

The two rescued common seal pups have been named Cupcake and Muffin

Two common seal pups, which are a few days old, have been rescued after their mothers abandoned them.

RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk is looking after its first new pups this year.

Cupcake was rescued by Sea Life Hunstanton in Snettisham on Saturday after a member of the public said he looked weak.

The other pup, Muffin, was found on Wednesday in Waxham and was rescued by Friends of Horsey Seals.

A member of the public found Cupcake and waited to see if his mother would return, but she did not

Both pups are being fed a diet of liquidised mackerel and will be looked after for a few months, said Evangelos Achilleos, manager at East Winch Wildlife Centre.

He said: "Cupcake was our first common seal pup this season and is lucky to have survived. We believe he had been separated from his mum and would have perished without her milk.

"We will do all we can to rehabilitate them and get them ready to be released back into the wild."

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The centre currently has 25 seals and has released more than 45 grey seal pups since March, he said.

Mr Achilleos said: "This is a really busy time for the centre as we are in the heart of the orphan season and so we are caring for all kinds of wildlife, not just seals.

"Last year the centre admitted 194 seals - from them we had 95 common seal pups."