Well-Trained Seal at Melbourne Zoo Presents Flipper for Blood Sample Procedure

Months of training and years spent building up a bond with New Zealand fur seal Iha have paid off for the keepers at Melbourne Zoo, who were able to take a blood sample from the animal without the need for anesthetic.

Footage from the zoo shows the well-trained seal flipping on her back on command, and presenting her flipper for the medical procedure.

Melbourne Zoo now joins “a limited number of zoos in the world to have successfully completed a front flipper blood draw without the need for general anesthetic,” the zoo said. Credit: Melbourne Zoo via Storyful