Blind seal gives birth and nurtures the pup at an Illinois zoo

BROOKFIELD, Ill. — A grey seal found stranded and blind more than a decade ago on an island in Maine has given birth at a Chicago-area zoo and is now “a very attentive mother” to her newborn, zoo officials said Friday. The 11-year-old seal named “Georgie” gave birth on Feb. 17 to a nearly 35-pound male pup at the Brookfield Zoo. But Georgie’s vision loss hasn’t affected her ability to care for her newborn — she’s nurturing the pup and has proven to be “a very attentive mother,” said Mark Gonka, the zoo’s associate director of marine mammal care and conservation. The Brookfield Zoo said the newborn pup’s birth from two parents of wild descent is helping to increase the genetic diversity of the grey seal population in accredited North American zoos and aquariums.