A SEAL was put down after being found with multiple gunshot wounds in the River Ouse near York.

The animal may have suffered the injuries to its head, neck and upper chest about two months before it was discovered at Naburn Lock.

RSPCA spokeswoman Leanne Plumtree said people living in the area, where the male adult grey mammal had become a popular sight, had noticed the stricken seal had been wasting away and had become thin and lethargic before it was rescued on July 11.

It was taken to the RSPCA’s specialist wildlife hospital at the East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk where it was examined by expert marine mammal vets.

Information gained from its unique flipper tag number revealed it had previously been rescued in 2004 as a young orphaned pup. After being nursed back to health during three-and-a-half months in care, it was then released into the water.

“This time, though, the outcome looked bleak,” said Leanne.

She said the seal was severely underweight when it was found last week, registering only 86kg on the scales when it should have been double that.

After a day of treatment at the centre, the mammal was X-rayed and found to have been shot in the head, neck and chest.

The RSPCA said the seal had been gradually wasting away and becoming sicker, while one eye was permanently damaged by the shooting. It had also been unable to dive properly and could not catch food in its usual way.

Steve Bexton, the head veterinary surgeon at the centre, said: “There was gunshot peppered throughout his head, neck and upper chest.

“There was no chance of him recovering from these injuries, so sadly he had to be put to sleep.”

RSPCA East Winch centre manager Alison Charles said the centre had only treated nine seals over the past decade.

“However, five of these had been brought in as a result of being shot in the head, and had suffered for several weeks from slow starvation as a result of their injuries,” he said.

The most famous seal discovered in the Ouse was Sammy, who took up residence in Linton Lock, north of York, in 2002 and remained there for months.