A dangerous fish from the Amazon that attacks in flocks, it is carnivorous and is able in a several minutes with the help of hundred “friends” to torn even a whole cow. Here are five true facts about piranhas!
Roosevelt has popularized piranhas
The former US President Theodore Roosevelt during his visit to Brazil in 1913 was part of a hunting expedition in the jungles of the Amazon, and local fishermen were a staged a spectacle. They were threw a cow in the water. Several minutels later cow was torned by a group of piranhas. Roosevelt later presented piranhas as dangerous creatures in his book. He stated that the piranhas is the most cruel fish in the world.
Forbidden pet
In some parts of the world piranhas can be bought as pets, although they are in many parts of the US forbidden. In the Philippines, for example, for the importation of piranhas is a sentence of six months and even up to four years in prison.
If you do decide to hold a piranha in your aquarium, you should observe some rules. They certainly should not be bought in pairs because they are aggressive and weaker of the two will not survive.
Man-eating piranha
Black-tailed or San Francisco piranha it is the largest and one of the most dangerous piranhas. It is also known as man-eating piranha because of several recorded attacks on people. In the wild, they can grow up to 60 centimeters and in aquariums are recorded specimens of 70-80 centimeters.
Are all piranhas dangerous?
There are about 60 species, although over the films came to fame as bloodthirsty killers, most species are scavengers and feed on plants. Only six of them posing any danger. Even 12 of the 60 species are called hermitage piranhas. That means they live only from the crumbs that fall from the other fishes (scales, fin parts).
Piranhas can kill people
Although they can grow up to 43 centimeters, piranhas or certain species of piranhas can really be very dangerous, even for humans. They have extremely sharp teeth in both jaws and are able to snatch everything they find on their way thanks to a powerful jaw.
There were several attacks of this fish that finished tragic for the people. 2011 drunken 18-year-old was attacked and killed in Rosario del Jata in Bolivia. A year later, five year-old Brazilian girl was attacked and killed by a flock of piranhas of red-bellied piranhas, together with black-tailed is one of the most dangerous species.
