Skull, Leopard Seal
Description
A skull and mandible of a Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). The skull has been broken into several pieces before being glued back together and the mandible appears to have been broken in half. Three top teeth are missing and some small chips of bone are also missing from various places. There are a number of pencil marks on the bone which it appears were used to help glue the skull together.
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Object detail
Credit line
This
battered
Leopard
Seal
skull
tells
of
a
violent
death
on
a
New
Plymouth
beach.
This
fearsome
looking
skull,
which
has
been
shattered
and
then
carefully
reconstructed,
belongs
to
a
stray
beast
which
hauled
up
to
rest
on
Ngamotu
Beach
in
1974
only
to
be
confronted
by
police.
The details of what came next are still shrouded in mystery but the Antarctic voyager, which was over two metres long, was shot and killed and brought into Taranaki Museum.
At the time the reason given for the shooting was “because it couldn’t walk.”
While this is true in one sense, as Leopard Seals can’t raise up on their front flippers, it seems an inadequate justification with the benefit of hindsight. Leopard seals, which can grow up to about 3 ½ metres long and weigh 300-500kgs, are formidable hunters that feed on fish and krill but are capable of killing penguins, other seals and small dogs just as easily. The seals live on the Antarctic pack ice and they are infrequent visitors to the Taranaki coast. Thankfully most of them return to sea unmolested.
The details of what came next are still shrouded in mystery but the Antarctic voyager, which was over two metres long, was shot and killed and brought into Taranaki Museum.
At the time the reason given for the shooting was “because it couldn’t walk.”
While this is true in one sense, as Leopard Seals can’t raise up on their front flippers, it seems an inadequate justification with the benefit of hindsight. Leopard seals, which can grow up to about 3 ½ metres long and weigh 300-500kgs, are formidable hunters that feed on fish and krill but are capable of killing penguins, other seals and small dogs just as easily. The seals live on the Antarctic pack ice and they are infrequent visitors to the Taranaki coast. Thankfully most of them return to sea unmolested.
Accession number
A78.578
Collection type
Material
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