Bikini-clad woman sneaks a swim with the seals

A half-naked woman really wanted to take a late night dip.

And her companions of choice: A pair of flippered friends.

So she sneaked into the seal pool of Berlin Zoo on Monday night, risking serious injury to the animals after closing time, zoo authorities said.

A witness told German daily Bild: "I watched as the woman stripped to her bikini and then lowered herself into the seal pool. Further back was a man taking photos."

Staff failed to catch the woman, zoo manager Ragnar Kuehne said. If they had, they would have called the police.

"The woman could have been seriously injured if the seals had bitten her," he said.

It is not known if they'll need therapy after their close encounter with the human. Photo: AFP

The bikini-clad woman took her swim about half an hour after visitors had left.

"People need to respect animal welfare (not just in) the wild but also in captivity," said Doerte von der Reith, spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "To intrude into their compound is absolutely irresponsible."

It seems the seals (Gloria and Grania) which were forced to share their pool are not yet fully grown. Fur seals can vary in size from 1 to 3 meters

The pair moved to the German capital from Hanover Zoo in 2013.

It is not known if they'll need therapy after their close encounter with this particular human kind.

- Reuters