Wildcat Cult

Sitting all alone on a beach, this little seal is an outcast from the colony.

Its crime? Having reddish-brown fur and the palest of blue eyes. The rest of its sleek black family took an instant dislike to the ginger pup, leaving it to fend for itself.

The pictures were taken by Anatoly Strakhov, who spotted the seal on Tyuleniy Island, Russia.

The photographer, 61, said: ‘He was hiding and waiting for his mother to come and feed him.

‘He had a very strange colour fur and looked different from his two black brothers.

I was pleased to be able to capture such an unusual animal, but the poor seal is almost blind and so was unlikely to survive in the wild.’ 

Luckily, Mr Strakhov was with staff from a dolphinarium who took it into their care.

The pup – whose colour is the result of an accumulation of iron in its fur – might have had more luck in the U.S. One of the biggest concentrations of red-haired seals is in San Francisco.