Authorities in Bangkok have warned that piranhas may have been released into Bangkok's canals , as dealers of tropical fish are dumping the flesh-eating piranhas into the waterways of Thailand's main city Bangkok, to avoid getting caught during the ongoing crackdown on the trade in forbidden exotic animals.
But specimens of the ferocious South American piranha fish have yet to be found in the Bangkok's rivers and canals, and experts reportedly advised against panic as it was unlikely that the released piranhas could survive longtime in Bangkok's polluted waterways.
Last year when Thai police launched a crackdown on the illegal trade in exotic animals, police seized 112 piranhas and threatened further legal action against traders in piranhas, but more owners and breeders of piranha fish were never found, Police Colonel Wichit Nanthawong said.
Only eight piranhas have been seized this year and no owners have been located, but Wichit said the continuing crackdown may be prompting breeders to flush the carnivorous piranhas out of their inventory into the canals.
It is causing the Thai police great concern that traders might be scared to face penalties and instead are dumping their stock of piranhas into the waterways of Bangkok, Wichit said.
Thai people, especially children, like to swim in the rivers and canals. It would be frightening if piranhas would be swimming around them, Wichit added. Especially Thai boys and men should cover their private parts very well when swimming in the canals, otherwise they could be sorry for the rest of their lives, Wichit said.
Chirdsak Vongkamolchoon, director of the Fish Trade Inspection Section, said that a still bigger danger is, that traders may unknowingly release "Piranhas Eggs" into the waterways when cleaning their aquarium tanks, and that piranhas born in the Bangkok canals could better survive the polluted waters.
Other Thai experts say however that the piranhas have less chance of surviving in the polluted waters of Bangkok's Chao Phraya River and smaller canals, and preferred a dense forest ecosystem such as that found in Southern Thailand.
