The true cost of Neil the Seal\u2019s trail of cute destruction during his stay in south Tasmania has been revealed.<\/p>\n
Neil, weighing an estimated 1000kg, paid a visit to Clarence from June 24 with hundreds of posts online covering the southern elephant seal\u2019s antics.<\/p>\n
But his visit came at a cost, with the City of Clarence having the receipts to show for it.<\/p>\n
The authority posted an invoice for his 34-night stay and the damage he caused, with a total bill of $31,540.53.<\/p>\n
As well as the staff hours of managing traffic and crowds, the bill also included $1297.70 in materials to repair a sign, 10 billboards and one section of fence.<\/p>\n
Labour came to $26,520.08, equipment another $3608.00 and $114.75 in plant hire.<\/p>\n
However, the five-year-old will not be out of pocket, as the council credited the full balance thanks to Neil\u2019s \u201ctourism ambassador services, community joy and exceptional cuteness\u201d.<\/p>\n
The public don\u2019t know when and where Neil will pay another visit to shore, but Mayor Brendan Blomeley warns \u201cwhile the damage bill is relatively small, Neil is a wild animal and the over exposure and constant public attention he received could have led to a more dramatic outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWherever he decides to come ashore next, I hope he is given the space and time he needs,\u201d Mr Blomeley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of this cost was related to staffing and labour. 131.5 standard work hours and 144 overtime hours were required during Neil\u2019s stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as damage goes, Neil\u2019s scratching up against public property meant one sign, 10 bollards, and one section of fence will need to be replaced, equating to around $1,297.70 in materials.\u201d<\/p>\n
While many people saw Neil as playful, the public have been reminded that distance must be kept from elephant seals as they are wild predators. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The true cost of Neil the Seal\u2019s trail of cute destruction during his stay in south Tasmania has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[70740,70772,70754,70756,70776,70773,70768,70789,70788,70781,70761,70770,37016,70751,39233,70784,70777,70792,45453,70771,44986,70775,50532,70791,70739,70742,70782,70743,70750,22,21,34260,70780,3352,70787,14595,48183,70757,36520,33417,70785,70744,70747,57469,70766,70778,46269,70748,70763,70745,38421,33540,70760,70741,34261,31572,53474,70774,70752,46354,51779,70759,11375,37827,70762,70769,70783,57704,36676,38322,47888,70753,70767,70758,70779,37118,70764,70765,70755,70786,70790,51357,70749,17467,70746],"class_list":["post-61771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-exceptional-cuteness","tag-s-tourism-ambassador-services","tag-s-antics-but","tag-s-stay","tag-s-trail","tag-114-75","tag-1297-70","tag-000-bill","tag-10-billboards","tag-10-bollards","tag-131-5-standard-work-hours","tag-144-overtime-hours","tag-37016","tag-297-70","tag-39233","tag-520-08","tag-a-30k-bill","tag-a-cent","tag-a-cost","tag-a-more-dramatic-outcome","tag-a-sign","tag-a-total-bill","tag-a-visit","tag-a-wild-animal","tag-an-estimated-1000kg","tag-an-invoice","tag-another-3608-00-and","tag-another-visit","tag-around-1","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-clarence","tag-community-joy","tag-council","tag-cute-destruction","tag-damage","tag-distance","tag-elephant-seals","tag-equipment","tag-fence","tag-fence-labour","tag-his-exceptional-cuteness","tag-his-34-night-stay","tag-his-stay","tag-his-tasmanian-stay","tag-his-visit","tag-hundreds","tag-it-the-authority","tag-june-24","tag-managing-traffic-and-crowds","tag-many-people","tag-materials","tag-mayor-brendan-blomeley","tag-mr-blomeley","tag-neil","tag-neil-the-seal","tag-one-section","tag-one-sign","tag-plant-hire-however","tag-pocket","tag-posts","tag-public-property","tag-seal","tag-shore","tag-south-tasmania","tag-staffing-and-labour","tag-the-1000kg-wild-animal","tag-the-bill","tag-the-city","tag-the-council","tag-the-damage","tag-the-damage-bill","tag-the-five-year-old","tag-the-full-balance","tag-the-over-exposure-and-constant-public-attention","tag-the-public","tag-the-receipts","tag-the-seal","tag-the-southern-elephant-seal","tag-the-space-and-time","tag-the-staff-hours","tag-the-true-cost","tag-this-cost","tag-thousands","tag-wild-predators"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}