4 malnourished Hawaiian monk seals taken to hospital
HONOLULU — Four malnourished Hawaiian monk seals have been taken from remote atolls to a Big Island hospital for the endangered animals to be fed fish and fluids to boost their weight, officials said Thursday.
The seals are likely to stay for at least a few months while they gain strength, said Dr. Shawn Johnson, chief veterinarian at the Marine Mammal Center, a California-based non-profit which operates the hospital in Kailua-Kona.
The seals will be taken back to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands when they are healthy and officials are able to arrange a ride for them.
Two of the seals were prematurely weaned by their mothers. One is a yearling, and the fourth is an extremely underweight five-year-old. Three of the animals are females.