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A seal had to be put down after a motorbike was used to run it over on a Southland beach.
The seal had been lying sick on a beach near Riverton on Saturday when a local resident saw a motorcyclist approach it before circling back, taking a run up and running over it at speed, the Southland Times reported.
"It wasn't as if you couldn't see (the seal). It was deliberately done," Riverton woman Cheryle Blight said.
The motorcyclist, who left a tyre mark on the seal's back, joined a group of other people and rode away before he could be identified.
Deparment of Conservation duty officer Pete McClelland said the seal had already been ill but had to be euthanased after the incident, which he described as "pretty sick".
Riverton police are keen to hear from anyone who knows who was responsible for the act, which can attract a fine of up to $10,000 under the Marine Mammals Protection Act.
- NZPA
