Meet the penguins that were rescued in Argentina 1:26
(CNN) --
An aquarium employee shakes a mackerel near a penguin, but there is no reaction.
As she brings the fish close to her beak, the penguin arrogantly backs away from her.
An otter sniffs the fish and runs off.
For the penguins and otters at Hakone-en Aquarium, an hour's drive southwest of Tokyo, inflation and rising prices have meant a change in diet, and the animals aren't happy.
An employee at Japan's Hakone-en Aquarium waves a mackerel near a penguin, which turns away.
Credit: TV Asahi
Before, the aquarium offered penguins and otters "aji", or Japanese horse mackerel, which the animals ate without problems.
But the aquarium, which is home to 32,000 animals, including sharks and seals, is not immune to the economic problems plaguing many world economies.
The price of Japanese horse mackerel has risen 20% to 30% since last year, according to the aquarium.
An employee of Japan's Hakone-en Aquarium tries to tempt the penguins with mackerel, with little success.
Credit: TV Asahi
Therefore, to reduce costs, the aquarium changed in May to a cheaper alternative: the "saba" or mackerel.
Unfortunately, it hasn't been well received, and aquarium workers have had to get creative in encouraging the animals to eat: otters and penguins, for example, seem more willing to eat mackerel when mixed with their favorite horse mackerel.
advertising
"Ideally they would have a full horse mackerel, but they are patiently eating mackerel," aquarium keeper Hiroki Shimamoto told CNN affiliate TV Asahi.
The aquarium is also cutting costs by reducing the number of circulation pumps from two to one, which has reduced its electricity bill by 40% to 50%.
"We could increase the price of admission to the aquarium and fix this problem, but we would like to do our best to keep our facility a comfortable place for our visitors. We do not plan to increase the price of admission," Shimamoto said.
"Juggling" for science: this is how the days of these British otters go by
The aquarium says that the penguins and otters have their preferred type of fish and that the aquarium does its best to accommodate their needs.
"All the animals in the aquarium are family and we do everything we can to keep them healthy," he said.
"We would never force any animal to eat something it doesn't want. We would like as many people (as possible) to come visit Hakone and enjoy our animals."
AquariumsDietPenguins
