Ziggy the elephant seal is a celebrity in South Africa.
It's not just because of the pup's local birth last year, although that was unusual for a creature typically found in the Southern Ocean or on islands near Antarctica.
"Every few years, a few ellie seals come ashore on the South African coast, but most of these are young animals in an exploratory phase of their life," said marine scientist Greg Hofmeyr. To have "a pup born (here) ... is extremely rare."
Hofmeyr is a researcher at Bayworld, a tourist destination in the city of Port Elizabeth. He got involved in October after the female seal that was given the name Zelda appeared on the beach at Cape Recife and gave birth to Ziggy. For the next three weeks, he and a group of volunteers monitored the pair from a distance and tried to make sure they weren't disturbed by people, dogs or other animals.
When Zelda returned to the ocean in mid-November, the pup was fat and healthy but still at risk on the beach, Hofmeyr said. That's when Bayworld became Ziggy's temporary home, and he became the team's sweetheart. He loved to play with the dead fish added to his pool each day for mealtime. And though he wasn't in a public space, visitors frequently asked about him.
