A baby seal waddles into the New Zealand bar and heads to the bathroom:

A seal walked into a bar. Or, to use a technical term, he clicked.

The creature was apparently lost, curious and well below the legal drinking age in New Zealand. It lodged itself under the dishwasher and showed no interest in calling a taxi.

It was a damp, lazy Sunday afternoon when the baby sea lion waddled into Sprig + Fern The Meadows craft beer bar in Richmond, atop New Zealand’s South Island. Accustomed to seeing animals at the pet-friendly bar, co-owner Bella Evans assumed the visitor was a dog before taking a closer look.

“Everyone was shocked,” Evans said. “Oh my God. What do we do? What’s going on?”

A customer grabbed a sweater and tried to get the stamp out the back door. Evading its pursuers, the creature ran into a bathroom and then hid under the dishwasher, which was quickly unplugged.

Another customer brought a dog cage to his house and Evans made a plan to lure the unruly visitor out of hiding using a pizza the pub was offering as a special.

“I just went to my fiancé and said, ‘Get the salmon! Get the salmon!'”

Evans told local media that they “lured him with salmon and a dog cage.”

Then there was a short wait until the rangers arrived. It turned out that they were already tracking the wandering seal.

“It was his fourth call of the day,” Evans said. “They had been driving around this newly built subdivision trying to find this baby seal.”

New Zealand’s conservation agency confirmed it received “numerous” reports from the public about a seal seen in Richmond on Sunday before the escapee turned up at the pub. Bar staff “did a great job keeping the seal safe” until rangers arrived, said Department of Conservation spokeswoman Helen Otley.

The seal was released on nearby Conejo Island, considered a safe location due to its dog-free status, Otley said. It’s not unusual for curious young seals to show up in unexpected places this time of year, he added, as they follow rivers and streams up to 9 miles inland.

“They may appear in unusual places, like this pub, but this is normal exploratory behaviour,” Otley said.

Successful conservation programs in New Zealand have resulted in increased seal and sea lion populations, bringing them into closer contact with humans than before. Scientists speak of an annual “silly season” for both species, a period of months during which they regularly appear in strange places: houses, golf courses or busy streets.

Evans, who has owned the pub with her partner for just a few months, said the baby fur seal was the first unruly customer she had to evict. But he said the animal, named Fern by staff, was welcome.

“There’s been a running joke that we have the seal of approval,” he said.

Salmon will remain on the menu.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Department of Conservation is warning about sea lions roaming public places. In a Facebook post this week, the department said that “sea lions are out and about, showing up on beaches, roads, golf courses, basically anywhere they feel like hanging out this summer.”

Officials noted that pregnant females are looking for safe places to give birth, “which means they will go further inland to get away from aggressive territorial males; soon, the young will also explore and appear in the most random places.”

Authorities asked the public to keep their dogs close and slow down near hot spots along the coast.

“They are one of the rarest sea lions in the world; every pup counts and we want this growing continental colony to thrive,” the department said.