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Young World
On a diet
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING: Fish need to lose weight. PHOTO: K.R. DEEPA
A shoal of piranha on show at a British aquatic centre has had to be put on a diet after gaining weight in captivity, officials said. Regular mealtimes mean the razor-toothed predators have become a bit podgy in the past month so they are now only being fed half-portions in a bid to shift the excess, Lynsey Thompson, from Birmingham's Sea Life Centre said. Piranha, which are normally found in the Amazon in South America, are capable of stripping a whole dead pig to the bone within minutes and can literally eat themselves to death, she explained. "Each mealtime has turned into a frantic feeding frenzy as they fight for meaty chunks of trout, prawns and mussels," she added. In the wild, species of piranha can go for days without any food. "Here, all food is soaked in vitamins to make sure that the red bellied savages are getting the nutrients they need and we will monitor their size over the next few weeks to make sure they slim down to a healthier size."
COMPILED BY ROHINI RAMAKRISHNAN
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