Piranha attacks? Four people rescued dead from rivers - bodies littered with bite marks
Created: 01/07/2022Updated: 01/07/2022, 12:22 PM
From: Felix Durach
A series of incidents in connection with piranhas has kept South America in suspense (symbolic image). © Mitar Gavric / Imago-images
In the new year, four fatal incidents have occurred in Paraguay that have been linked to piranhas.
Asuncion - Several fatal incidents in Paraguay have kept all of South America in suspense in the last few days.
Four people were killed after looking for them like many residents of Paraguay due to the high cooling in the rivers and lakes of the country.
One detail of the deaths sounds like it was taken from a bad horror film: The victims' bodies were partly covered with bite marks from piranhas.
Piranha Alert in South America?
Four fatalities pulled from rivers with bite marks
As the British portal
Daily Mail
reports, the first incident is said to have occurred last Sunday.
A 22-year-old had wanted to cool off in the Rio Paraguay when he suddenly disappeared into the water.
The other bathers, alerted by the disappearance, went in search of the 22-year-old and found him lifeless 45 minutes later.
Increased bite marks were found on the victim's body, which can be traced back to piranhas.
A little later, a 49-year-old also disappeared in the Rio Paraguay and a short time later could only be pulled out of the water dead and with bite marks.
In this case, however, the authorities assume that the man had a heart attack in the water and was only attacked by piranhas afterwards.
Piranhas in Paraguay: Several incidents - fish particularly aggressive during the breeding season
Also on Sunday, the lifeless bodies of two other people were found in the river Tebicuary, on which the bite marks of piranhas could also be found.
Such attacks are not atypical for the summer in South America, when the animals reproduce and come to shallow places in the rivers near the banks.
The responsible authorities therefore warn against bathing in the rivers during spawning time, as piranhas can become aggressive if they see their eggs threatened.
Even if the piranha attack cannot be regarded as the cause of the death of the swimmers in any of the incidents, at least more and more injuries from the fish are occurring.
For example, a swimmer recently lost his big toe in the Rio Parana after a piranha attack.
Piranha attacks in South America?
Normally no danger to swimmers
Basically, piranhas are classified as non-aggressive towards humans.
When hunting, the fish tend to concentrate more on smaller animals living in the water.
That is why bathing in waters that are inhabited by piranhas is basically also possible.
However, there is danger when the animals are under stress or guarding their brood.
Then the fish can become aggressive and attack in larger groups.
Anglers in particular would have frequent accidents if they improperly remove piranhas from the hook.
Then the animals can bite their fingers or hand with their sharp teeth.
(fd)
