Social media has lately been obsessed with adorable animals and their young ones for their unusual actions that refrain from winning people’s hearts online.Be it through their emotionally heart-reckoning gestures, their irresistibly funny tricks, or just the puppy-eyed look, each of their viral video and images has been getting millions of views, and users online can’t seem to get enough of it.This time the squishy creature who has everyone’s eyes on him is Neil- the 1000 kg elephant seal.He recently gained fame when he made a celebrity appearance on the southern coast of Australia, from where a very large, very grumpy visitor has become an unlikely online star.And he didn’t ask for any of this attention, nor is he performing tricks or posing for cameras. in fact, most of what he does involves knocking things over, blocking roads, and generally ignoring human rules altogether. Yet somehow, that’s exactly why people can’t stop watching.
Neil the 1 ton elephant seal (Photo: @neiltheseal__/ X)
Meet Neil: The elephant seal and Tasmania’s reigning troublemaker
Neil is not your average beachgoer. He’s a five-year-old elephant seal weighing around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds), which makes him roughly the size of a small car.Twice a year, after months spent feeding out at sea, Neil pulls himself onto the beaches of southern Tasmania, and it is the same stretch of coast where he was born, according to Global News. This is his twelfth visit to shore, and by now, he’s built up quite a popular image among his fans.
Neil the elephant seal is already a social media star
According to Global News, Neil has racked up a TikTok following of 1.4 million people, which is far more than Tasmania’s own human population when combined with his following on other platforms.
But, what has made Neil the online superstar?
Part of the appeal, ironically, is that Neil isn’t exactly well-behaved. He nauty tantrums and list of ‘offenses’ include bending traffic bollards, destroying a public sign warning people about seals, and smashing through a fence he apparently tried to jump over, according to NPR report.Some fans online have jokingly cast Neil as a kind of rebel hero, unbothered by rules or property lines. But according to NPR, experts say this behaviour is completely normal for a seal his age. Sophia Volzke, an elephant seal scientist at the University of Tasmania, explained that young male elephant seals need to practice the chest-to-chest shoving matches adults use to compete for mates. Since Neil has no other juvenile seals nearby to practice with, he’s been using parked cars instead.
The real danger is not Neil damaging signs and billboards but…
While Neil’s antics have made him an online celebrity, Tasmanian officials say the real danger isn’t the damage to bollards or fences; it’s the humans trying to get close to him. Kris Carlyon, from Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, addressed the issue directly at a news conference, saying, “Neil’s fame is a bit of a double-edged sword,” according to Global News.Carlyon also revealed that some fans have gone dangerously far in pursuit of a photo, including bringing infants close to the massive animal, according to Global News.For now, officials are asking the public to keep their distance and avoid revealing which town Neil is currently visiting, hoping to prevent a risky encounter that could force rangers to relocate him.
