In 2002, ‘Gaston’, a seal, escaped from the Prague Zoo during the floods and managed to swim to Germany before being re-captured. Gaston became a hero, “the most famous animal on earth”, even having a statue erected in his honour at the zoo. But why elevate this particular animal to such cult status when at the same time seals, once widespread throughout Europe, are now an endangered species? The second story took place 50 years earlier and tells the life story of a seal named Ulysses, caught in Sardinia by a Milan photojournalist who, in front of the cameras, tossed the animal into the famous Fontana di Trevi. Patellani – a friend of Federico Fellini's and a specialist on film stars – was fined for his action. The reason, however, was not the killing of a baby seal but the pollution of water in the fountain. We may be approaching a time when it will be impossible to see animals in their natural habitat. Is it acceptable that instead of seals on the beaches of the Mediterranean there are now sun-tanning tourists? Or that you can book a seal-hunting trip through a travel agent? How does this profound change affect our view both of animals and of ourselves? Will every animal one day be domesticated? And what is the domestication of people?