FOUR seals that had to undergo rehabilitation after being swept away from their mothers have been released back into the wild.

The grey seals arrived at the Welsh Mountain Zoo, Colwyn Bay, at the end of last year in various states of unwell having been parted from their mothers during the storms.

Now at healthy weights, the seals - two males and two females - were released back into the sea on Tuesday morning, from the beach opposite Rhos on Sea Golf Club.

Peter Litherland, collection manager at the Welsh Mountain Zoo, said: “It costs approximately seven pounds a day to feed growing pups plus a huge investment in keeper time to get the sickly pups to a good weight.

“It is always a privilege to be part of the team that transforms the physical well-being of theses lovely pups and wonderful to see a healthy seal swim away to a new future it almost certainly would not have had.

“We always breathe a sigh of relief when we see them swim away as it has taken three or four months of careful painstaking work to get these sick and abandoned animals back to health.”

Jamie Toffrey, at the zoo, added: "“We are really pleased with how the release went, despite the snowy weather. It’s always nice to be able to release the seals back into the wild once they have been rehabilitated here at the Zoo."

Most of the seals arrived at the zoo at a weight of under 12kg and leave at 40kg.

Due to the poor weather conditions at the end of last year, its estimated that some colonies lost up to 70 per cent of their pups.