A Californian sea lion named Señor Cinco was rescued on the shores of Vancouver after being found with gunshot wounds in the face.Last week, experts at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre were alerted that a lethargic, emaciated sea lion was on Spanish Banks beach. He was rescued and given his charming name (based on the the fact that he was located on Cinco de Mayo).
Poor Señor Cinco
The aquarium has since said Señor Cinco is suffering from gunshot wounds to the face, likely coming from a small calibre gun. Following an exam, the rescue centre's vets determined the extent of Señor Cinco's injuries.
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"He was shot at least twice in the face, with bullets shattering his teeth, blinding him in one eye, and possibly hitting his optic nerve," they said in a news release.The injuries are not new, and given that he was emaciated, he'd likely been suffering for weeks, according to Dr. Martin Haulena, the aquarium's head vet."The injuries he sustained at the hands of humans left him in pain and unable to forage on his own. We're happy we can ease his suffering, but he has a long road to recovery ahead," Haulena said in a news release.If you, like me, are wondering what kind of sicko would shoot a sea lion, apparently there is long standing beef between sea lions and fishermen.
Smh
"Conflicts between fishermen and sea lions go back a long way; some 'nuisance animals' can be killed under permit," Haulena told VICE. "But it's never OK to injure an animal in a way that causes suffering for many weeks at least."The aquarium said it doesn't know if Señor Cinco will be able to be released back into the wild.California sea lions breed off the coast of Southern California and the Baja peninsula but migrate to BC during non-breeding season.While Señor Cinco's fate remains to be seen, he is probably better off here than in Trump's America.Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.