The baby stingrays arrived after two females were seen looking mysteriously bloated and later found to be pregnant.
The 15cm (6in) babies have now grown big enough to be moved to their new home in Sea Life London Aquarium’s SOS area – where they are proving a hit with visitors.
‘Rays have been known to store sperm and not give birth until they decide the timing is right but it’s not something I’ve seen before in my eight years here,’ said Paul Hale, head curator at the central London attraction.
‘The staff noticed two female stingrays looking bloated so gave them a health check and were surprised to discover they were both expecting, considering there have been no males in their display for so long. These pups will be very popular with our visitors this summer.’
Stingrays are named after their venomous, barbed tails, which are used in self-defence.
Australian naturalist Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray barb in 2006.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/871875-female-stingrays-give-birth-to-baby-rays-despite-no-contact-with-males#ixzz1V0Hoezb4
Showing posts with label sea life London aquarium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sea life London aquarium. Show all posts
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Gary the greedy gourami takes a break from eating KitKats
No wonder Gary the greedy gourami fish looks down in the mouth... his keepers have stopped him eating his favourite food – KitKats.
Staff at the Sea Life London Aquarium were baffled by his refusal to feed, until they learned he had been brought up on the snack.
So the team stuffed crushed KitKat pieces inside grapes to tempt the 4kg (8.8lb) giant to change his diet.
‘I have never heard of a fish being fed chocolate, let alone being brought up entirely on the stuff,’ said Gary’s handler, Rebecca Carter.
‘Gouramis usually eat a diet of fruit but Gary doesn’t appear to have suffered any ill effects from his chocolate addiction.
‘However, we would not recommend feeding fish confectionery of any kind.’
Behind Gary’s plight is a serious issue. ‘Many people don’t do the right research when they buy fish and end up unable to care for them,’ said Ms Carter.
‘Catfish are a good example and we have a number here that outgrew their homes. We simply do not have the space to accommodate the vast number of re-homing requests we receive.’
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/870970-gary-the-greedy-gourami-takes-a-break-from-eating-kitkats#ixzz1TmOB92kX
Staff at the Sea Life London Aquarium were baffled by his refusal to feed, until they learned he had been brought up on the snack.
So the team stuffed crushed KitKat pieces inside grapes to tempt the 4kg (8.8lb) giant to change his diet.
‘I have never heard of a fish being fed chocolate, let alone being brought up entirely on the stuff,’ said Gary’s handler, Rebecca Carter.
‘Gouramis usually eat a diet of fruit but Gary doesn’t appear to have suffered any ill effects from his chocolate addiction.
‘However, we would not recommend feeding fish confectionery of any kind.’
Behind Gary’s plight is a serious issue. ‘Many people don’t do the right research when they buy fish and end up unable to care for them,’ said Ms Carter.
‘Catfish are a good example and we have a number here that outgrew their homes. We simply do not have the space to accommodate the vast number of re-homing requests we receive.’
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/870970-gary-the-greedy-gourami-takes-a-break-from-eating-kitkats#ixzz1TmOB92kX
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