Neil the one-tonne elephant seal causing traffic jams in rural Tasmania has returned to sea – for now | Tasmania

A one-ton southern elephant named Neil, whose beachside antics have been viewed millions of times on social media, appears to have returned to the sea.

The five-year-old spent several weeks at the usual twice-annual transport point in southern Tasmania.

Videos of Neil smashing signs and bollards and lounging near fences on suburban streets went viral, sending visitors flocking to the normally sleepy seaside town.

But on Thursday Tasmania’s Natural Resources and Environment Agency (NRE) said Neil appeared to have left the area.

“Seal Neil returned to the sea safely last night. This was his natural behavior and expected behavior,” the ministry said in a statement.

In the short term, they said, it could still return or retreat to a nearby location or head toward feeding grounds further south.

NRE said its marine conservation program was monitoring the situation.

However, authorities were unable to track Neil directly. An NRE spokesman told the Guardian that while Neil was fitted with a satellite tracking device in 2023, the device fell off during his annual molt “as expected” and was recovered in 2024.

“Neil has not been monitored since 2024 because the installation of the monitoring device is usually done during a specific need, such as a veterinary or relocation intervention,” they said.

When the then-adolescent seal could be tracked, data showed it had spent six months at sea, foraging more than 1,600km from south-west Tasmania and covering more than 5,000km during a round trip.

“This is normal behavior for a young male southern elephant seal,” they said.

Neil’s departure follows crowds of visitors flocking to see the local celebrity reach potentially dangerous levels.

Wildlife officials issued a stern warning, telling people to stay away from Neil and saying euthanasia was a last resort if public safety could not be guaranteed.

Neil was born without a colony in southern Tasmania and is pre-programmed to return to the area twice a year to rest and moult. Elephant seal colonies in southern Tasmania were destroyed by sealers in the 1800s, and most began to breed on the Macquarie and Heard Islands.

Kris Carlyon, NRE’s head of wildlife health and marine life, said Neil was “potentially one of the first southern elephant seal pups born in Tasmania”.

“Despite the resource load and the challenges Neil brings, we are pleased to have him on board,” he said.

Local authorities have asked anyone who sees Neil to contact police marine mammal helpline. The public is reminded to stay at least 20 meters away, keep dogs at least 50 meters away and not block access to water.

“We’ll keep an eye on it, but otherwise Tasmania’s traffic cones and street signs can breathe a small sigh of relief,” Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff said on Thursday.

“A great achievement for all who treated Big Neil with respect and care while on land.”