Man Fishes Out
Piranha From Sabana Park Pond
While fishing in the pond of the Parque
Metropolitano La Sabana, José Ureña, got the
surprise of his life in the 15 years he has
been fishing in the pond: he pulled out a 20
Kg piranha.
Ureña said he is not alone, as other
fishermen have reported fishing out the
carnivores, who are being blamed for the
disappearance of the ducks in the pond.
However, the Ureña is the largest catch to
date.
Piranhas are normally found in the
Amazon basin, in the Orinoco, in rivers of
the Guyanas, in the Paraguay-Paraná, and in
the São Francisco River systems; some
species of piranha have broad geographic
ranges.
Piranhas are normally about 15 to 25 cm long
(6 to 10 inches), although reportedly
individuals have been found up to 43 cm
(18.0 inches) in length
From the moment tiny baby piranhas hatch
from their microscopic eggs, they come into
the world armed and dangerous. Baby piranha
will feast on tiny crustaceans, fruits,
seeds, and aquatic plants. Once they reach
about 1.5 inches in length they begin
feeding on the fins and flesh of other fish
that wander too closely. As they grow larger
they begin to venture out in groups
(schools) of about 20 fish where they use a
variety of hunting strategies to kill and
eat their prey.
Piranhas don't kill their prey first, they
just start eating the victim alive - that's
what makes them so ferocious. Adult piranha
have been known to eat their own babies.
When a school of piranha are in a feeding
frenzy the water appears to boil and churn
red with blood. They attack with such
ferocity that they strip an animal of its
flesh within a matter of minutes, even
taking bites out of each other in the
process.
There are approximately 20 species of
piranha, with only four or five of them
posing any danger. Most piranha species are
quite harmless and docile, but the ones with
the nasty reputation for aggressive behavior
are the red-bellied piranha, Pygocentrus
nattereri.
Adult piranha will eat just about anything -
other fish, sick and weakened cattle, even
parts of people. Sickly cattle that have
stooped their heads down to drink from the
river have been grabbed by the mouth and
nose and pulled into the water, completely
devoured minutes later. As wicked as it all
sounds, piranha have a useful function in
the Amazonian jungles just like any other
predators in the wild. They are part of the
checks and balances Mother Nature employs to
eliminate the weak and sick so only the
strong survive.
There exists a legend that piranha can and
will skin and eat a human-being alive, and
is said to have been started with American
President Teddy Roosevelt's visit to Brazil,
and a spectacle setup by Brazilian
fishermen. To guarantee a good show for the
adventure-loving Roosevelt, local fishermen
blocked off a portion of an Amazon river
with nets and dumped hordes of starving
piranhas into it when the U.S. president
explored the region on a hunting trip. Then
they sliced up a cow and tossed it in the
river, setting off a wild feeding frenzy and
producing the now-fabled instant skeleton
effect. Roosevelt presented piranhas as
vicious creatures in his 1914 book Through
the Brazilian Wilderness. Hollywood would
later emblazon the image for posterity. An
example of this perception of piranha in
media was presented in the James Bond film
You Only Live Twice, where a henchmen named
Hans is shown feeding live humans to pet
piranha owned by the film's main antagonist,
Blofeld.
Believe it or not, there are people who
actually keep piranhas as "pets". Piranhas
aren't good pets in the traditional sense
because you can't hold or pet them, and they
aren't affectionate. Piranha owners still
must be extremely careful of the fish's
sharp teeth and aggressive nature. Keeping
them well fed is probably the key to keeping
them mellow.
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