Warning after children save seal pup from death

A group of children who saved a seal pup from an agonising death have received a pat on the back from the Department of Conservation - and a warning they risked a nasty bite.

Danny-Kate McManus, 10, said she was playing with friends at the Nelson waterfront on Sunday when they saw the seal pup had a yellow rope around its body.

The seal gave them some "play bites" so they fed it fish while one of the boys cut the rope off with a knife, the Nelson Mail reported.