A huge operation to rescue the three-year-old grey seal has been ongoing for a week, since anglers threatened to shoot him for eating their valuable fish stocks.

Anglers on the River Leven relented under pressure from animal welfare supporters and the seal was given a permit to legally fish the waters near Loch Lomond.

The permit even featured a passport-sized photograph of the seal, nicknamed Andre, and runs until 31 October.

Natural habitat

Despite the permit, rescuers from various wildlife bodies said they will continue attempts to remove the seal.

His rescuers, headed by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA), have said that Andre, also known as Salty, should be removed from the loch and returned to his natural habitat.

However, a 12-hour effort to remove him from the loch on Monday failed and the SSPCA said that it would not begin searching again until the weekend at the earliest - and they may leave it as long as next week.

Spokeswoman for the charity Doreen Graham said: "We are going to leave the rescue attempt this week.

On Sunday we were so close to catching him, but the attempt failed Doreen Graham SSPCA

"We want to give him the chance to forget the nets and the rescuers.

"On Sunday we were so close to catching him, but the attempt failed.

"We knew at the start of the operation that it wouldn't be easy, but he is now at an age where he is beginning to think about girls and hopefully that will entice him out of the loch."

The Scottish SPCA has also reported that a net used in the rescue attempts has been stolen from the back of one of their vehicles after the second rescue attempt.

The net, which belongs to the British Divers Marine Life Association, was the only one in the rescuers' possession and its disappearance has further held up the rescue process.