Australian teenager charged with seal slaughter

A Victorian teenager has been charged with shooting more than 40 protected fur seals.

The 19-year-old man from San Remo, a fishing town in the Australian state's south-east, will face seven criminal charges and 15 wildlife and fisheries offences when he appears in court in November.

Dozens of fur seals, the world's fourth rarest seal species, were found last Wednesday shot dead or dying on Kanowna Island, in the Wilsons Promontory National Park in the state's south-east.

A second man, aged 29, is also expected to be charged.