A resort town in Brazil hopes a steel-and-plastic net will stop piranhas from taking a bite out of bathers -- and its tourism industry.
Authorities in Palmas in central Brazil say 180 cases of bathers at the resort being bitten by piranhas have been reported so far this year at La Prata beach on an artificial lake that is a major tourist draw.
The figure is three times more than in all of last year.
Town development chief Milton Neres blamed the surge in bites on a booming piranha population as the fish increasingly use the reservoir as a breeding ground.
"They weren't attacks by groups of piranhas but of a single one biting someone's foot. Still, the number of cases is increasing and we live off tourism," Neres said on Monday by telephone.
Neres said the town is installing a US$11,300 net to protect bathers on the artificial lake, which is formed with water from the Tocantins river.
The net, fastened to more than 100 wooden posts forming a half-moon extending nearly 250m off La Prata beach, will be fully installed by this weekend, Neres said.
Authorities will then patrol the waters inside the swimming area. The will then catch and relocate any piranha they find.
He said the town expects 280,000 visitors in the July-August high season, but ruled out eradicating the piranhas.
"It's about combining protection for our swimmers while caring for the species," Neres said.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS