New Zealander pleads guilty to seal massacre

A New Zealand teenager has admitted bludgeoning to death 25 seals, including newborn pups, because he thought they were "pests", reports said Tuesday. Jason Trevor Godsiff pleaded guilty to charges arising from the seal killings last November at Ohau Point, a popular tourist spot near the South Island town of Kaikoura, the Marlborough Express reported. When questioned by police about why he clubbed the seals with a metal pipe, the 19-year-old would only say he believed that New Zealand fur seals were pests, the newspaper reported. It said Godsiff was convicted Monday in the Blenheim District Court of wilfully ill-treating protected animals and possession of an offensive weapon. He will be sentenced on September 13.