This is our wildlife safari'

East coast seal colonies go from strength to strength

- Donna Ferguson

It is a cold winter's day to be lying on a beach, but the seal pup suckling from its mother does not seem to mind. A few metres away, a pregnant seal is burrowing into the sand, trying to get comfortable, while a third seal, who has just given birth, is touching noses with her newborn.

This section of the east Norfolk shoreline - with its huge colony of hundreds of grey seals and their white pups - is one of Britain's greatest wildlife success stories. More than 1,200 seal pups were born between the colony in Horsey and a neighbouring beach in November alone, and another 2,500 are expected to be born before the breeding season ends in January. It is a dramatic increase since 2002, when the seals first formed a colony at Horsey and 50 pups were born.

Standing atop a sand dune that overlooks the North Sea, Richard Edwards is keeping watch from a distance. "We can all take pride that this is happening on our doorstep," the volunteer seal warden says. "It's incredible."

Why go to the wilds of Africa, he wonders, when there is such an extraordinary spectacle on the Norfolk coast? "This is Britain's wildlife safari."