The hunt is on in China for the piranhas that attacked a man while he was bathing his dog in the Liu river in Guangxi at the weekend.
Zhang Kaibo (31) from Liuzhou was set upon by three fish, leaving him needing stitches to a wound in his hand after one of them sank its teeth in and wouldn't let go. He said he had to slam the fish into the ground to get it to release its grip.
Two of the fish escaped, but he took the one that had bitten his hand home with him, where it was later identified as a Sharp-snouted piranha (Serrasalmus sanchezi) by officials.
Authorities used a net baited with meat in an attempt to catch the remaining piranhas in the river, but with no success. Now a reward is being offered of 1000 yuan (around £100) to anyone who manages to catch one of them.
It's thought that the predators — endemic to Peru — were dumped into the Liu river by a fishkeeper.
In a report by the China Daily newspaper, a spokesman for Liuzhou government said that residents in the city had no need to worry about piranhas in the river as the fish could not kill humans and could not live in water colder than 15°C/59°F — so there was little chance of them surviving and reproducing.
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