Happy ending for little seal no-one wanted to play with

He has a face only a mother could love - but unfortunately for this adorable little seal his big blue eyes and sweet disposition weren't enough to win her affections. In fact the pup’s ginger fur and pink flippers proved too much for the mother who abandoned him, earning him the title of the world’s loneliest pup.

And just like the fairytale the Ugly Duckling the tiny little seal was rejected by others around him and left to fend for himself. Photographer Anatoly Strakhov discovered the sad youngster hiding under some logs on Russia’s Tyuleniy Island. The 61-year-old said the baby wasn’t playing with other baby seals and kept hiding and waiting for his mother to come and feed him.



"As soon as I saw him I knew he was different, he had a very strange colour fur and looked different from his two black brothers,” he said. "When the seal saw me he turned his head to me as I took his picture. I spent around half an hour photographing him - I was pleased to be able to capture such an unusual animal."

Mr Strakhov said the little seal is almost blind and was unlikely to survive in the wild. Fortunately for the plucky pup, fate is smiling down on him. Mr Strakhov was in the company of a Russian dolphinarium who have taken the pup into their care. Experts say his unusual colour is probably the result of accumulation of iron in his fur.