Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Police officers investigating a night-time disturbance in a front garden were shocked when they used their torches to investigate and discovered this young seal cub.

They believe that the seal had followed one of the many local tributaries leading to the North Sea in the town of Esens and ended up lost in the maze of tiny waterways.

They suspect it had then decided to leave the sanctuary of the water in an attempt to find its way back to the sea over land, where it wandered into a front garden.

Locals then heard a commotion and realised there was an animal hiding there, calling the police for assistance.

When the police officers confirmed that the animal was a seal, they called the local seal sanctuary which gave the young animal a check over, and after confirming it was healthy, they transported it to the sea where it was released unharmed.

North Sea grey seals are found not just in Germany, but also in the United Kingdom including Scotland and Northern Ireland. They mainly live on a diet of fish, and in the UK and Germany are a protected species. They do however also survive well in captivity, are commonly found in zoos, and in the past were frequently used in circus acts.