Sea lion shot by crossbow and gun released back into the wild
Archie the Sea Lion was discovered in November with severe injuries
It took five months, but Archie the California sea lion has been deemed healthy enough to be released back into the wild by staff at the Ocean Wise Marine Mammal Rescue Centre.
"It's been a long road for him," Dr. Martin Haulena, head veterinarian at the Vancouver Aquarium and Ocean Wise Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, said in an interview supplied by the centre.
"He started in such terrible shape, all because of humans."
The sea lion was found in November suffering from injuries from a crossbow and a gun. Veterinarians with the centre say it had a massive necrotic puncture wound from the crossbow and was severely dehydrated and underweight as a result.
The animal also had problems with its eyes. Veterinarians discovered it had been shot in the face, resulting in impaired vision. After surgery, the sea lion's vision is still blurry but will get better with time, Haulena said.
Watch as a team releases the massive sea lion back into the wild:
After months of treatment and rehabilitation, the sea lion was released with a tracker near Crescent Beach this past weekend.
"We want to see where he goes and how successful he'll be after release," explained Haulena. "If he should get in trouble somewhere we can go and find him again."