Jinx, the two-year-old seal pup, lives in a sanctuary in Cornwall to recover from health issues. However, she has been eating more than her fair share of fish and is now a massive 20kg overweight.

Jinx first arrived at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in 2017 to be treated for stomach problems – the result of a condition that strongly resembles irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Since her arrival in the convalescence pool she has been consuming vast quantities of fish – way more than the other seals.

A seal of her age should weigh roughly 65kg. However, she now weighs 85kg. Her weight has reached a point that the sanctuary has had to devise a training programme for her to ensure she gets some exercise and develops a better lifestyle. Reluctantly, she has started moving around more.

Seen here is Jinx is a 2 year seal, who was rescued by the Cornish Seal sanctuary in 2017. When she first arrived at the Sanctuary she was suffering periods of not being able to digest her food properly and stomach problems. After an investigation by vet Paul Riley, it was found she had a condition similar to irritable bowel syndrome in humans. The vet found that steroids calmed her condition, and therefore the decision was made to provide Jinx a permanent home at the Sanctuary, as without treatment her condition would deteriorate and she would not be able to survive in the wild. Jinx has been in the Convalescence Pool with the Sanctuaries rehabilitating pups and fellow resident adult grey seals. As Jinx could not start her training with pups around, she has been swimming after every fish and eating more than her fair share. In combination with her health condition, this has resulted in her weighing 85kg; a healthy 2 year old pup should weigh around 65kg. Natalie, Head of Enrichment, has a plan in place to help Jinx with her husbandry training and physical enrichment, to help manage her weight as like with humans, there are risks to her general health with carrying extra weight. Today was her first training session, where they have been trying to get her to move around more and play.