A UK family were left horrified after they witnessed a sea lion hunting a seagull whilst visiting a zoo on Boxing Day.

Footage shows a sea lion in a pond struggling to catch a seagull as the bird tries to fly away.

''The sea lion wouldn’t let go the seagull and kept dragging the bird underwater, playing with it rather than trying to eat it,''’ the filmer said.

After a few attempts, the sea lion manages to grab the seagull and dips into the water with the bird in its mouth.

''My wife found a member of staff in the next door cafe, who then put a call to the zookeeper who brought the animals in. The bird was left struggling on the water clearly injured,'' the filmer added.

The clip was filmed on December 26 at Colchester Zoo in Essex.

Boxing Day 2018 family trip to Colchester zoo. Watching the Sea lions when suddenly one grabbed a sea gull that was sitting on the edge of the pool. Sea lion then kept pulling it under and playing it with but not letting go.