Kelly Tarltons Underwater World What happened to Kelly Tarltons piranhas?

[ElephasMaximus]

This isn't quite the right place for this question, but there doesn't seem to be any better location and I don't want to start a new thread just for this - what happened to Kelly Tarltons' piranhas? There are mentions of Kelly Tarltons having them up until the early 2010s, but I can't find any mention of them after that. I have found articles about the National Aquarium having to put theirs down in the late 2010s, but no similar articles about Kelly Tarltons. Did they lose their piranhas to old age or have to put them down? Do they still have any?

 

[ElephasMaximus]

I did a little digging, and it seems that Napier Aquarium was able to import piranhas as recently as 2011: National Aquarium, Napier [National Aquarium of New Zealand] . The article linked in the post is unfortunately dead, but it did make me wonder: how was the aquarium able to legally import piranhas? Piranhas are on the Live Import list, but have no valid IHS that I can find - or invalid IHS, for that matter. Does anyone know more about what legislation they might have used?

 

[Jambo]

Kelly Tarlton's haven't had Piranhas for a while now (possibly a decade, maybe more). They were displayed near the Gift Shop from what I can remember.

Piranhas only live around ten years, so old age is a possibility regarding Kelly Tarlton's group. Not sure when they last acquired any and whether there was any transactions between Napier and Kelly Tarlton's (although probably unlikely considering the restrictions on moving the species).

I do know Napier would have had to obtain a permit to import theirs's. Likely gifted by the ministry of agriculture and forestry; zoos can apply for these special circumstances.

 

[ElephasMaximus]

Kelly Tarlton's haven't had Piranhas for a while now (possibly a decade, maybe more). They were displayed near the Gift Shop from what I can remember.

Piranhas only live around ten years, so old age is a possibility regarding Kelly Tarlton's group. Not sure when they last acquired any and whether there was any transactions between Napier and Kelly Tarlton's (although probably unlikely considering the restrictions on moving the species).

I do know Napier would have had to obtain a permit to import theirs's. Likely gifted by the ministry of agriculture and forestry; zoos can apply for these special circumstances.

Interesting! So zoos don't always need a full IHS to import a species? Do you know of any other cases where they've taken this route?

 

[Jambo]

Interesting! So zoos don't always need a full IHS to import a species? Do you know of any other cases where they've taken this route?

I believe the restrictions around the IHS were made tighter around 2019, and Piranha may have been a species that may have been impacted by this. It's possible this contributed to the the decision to euthanise the remaining Piranha at Napier.

They still would have had to have had an IHS for acquiring them. When the restrictions were changed around 2019, it's possible their IHS was altered/removed.

Auckland similarly would have had to go through a similar process - applying for a permit to acquire their Flamingos from the UK. Their IHS however, still stands.

 

[ElephasMaximus]

I believe the restrictions around the IHS were made tighter around 2019, and Piranha may have been a species that may have been impacted by this. It's possible this contributed to the the decision to euthanise the remaining Piranha at Napier.

They still would have had to have had an IHS for acquiring them. When the restrictions were changed around 2019, it's possible their IHS was altered/removed.

Auckland similarly would have had to go through a similar process - applying for a permit to acquire their Flamingos from the UK. Their IHS however, still stands.

I think you're right that the revision of the rules for importing Ornamental Fish were tightened around 2019, and piranha seem to have been caught by this. I find it curious that there seems to be no trace of even a formerly valid IHS on the MPI website or anywhere online, but ah well.

This most I could find on the subject was on page 17 on this Review of Submissions on the draft IHS for ornamental fish: NZ Government . It says, with no elaboration, that "piranhas are not eligible for importation". I'm not sure if this means simply that piranhas are not eligible for importation under this particular IHS, and if they can't be imported at all. If the latter, I'm not sure why MPI would change the rules - surely there can't be a risk of piranha establishing themselves in NZ waters?

 

[Jambo]

I think you're right that the revision of the rules for importing Ornamental Fish were tightened around 2019, and piranha seem to have been caught by this. I find it curious that there seems to be no trace of even a formerly valid IHS on the MPI website or anywhere online, but ah well.

This most I could find on the subject was on page 17 on this Review of Submissions on the draft IHS for ornamental fish: NZ Government . It says, with no elaboration, that "piranhas are not eligible for importation". I'm not sure if this means simply that piranhas are not eligible for importation under this particular IHS, and if they can't be imported at all. If the latter, I'm not sure why MPI would change the rules - surely there can't be a risk of piranha establishing themselves in NZ waters?

It appears to me that simply restrictions were tightened, to the point where the remaining piranhas at Napier were impacted and the decision was made to euthanise them on welfare grounds.

This would mean that it would be very difficult to even get special consideration yet again, especially since an IHS no longer exists. At least as of now, they would indeed need an IHS to be completed if there was any interest in acquiring any new animals.

I wonder whether perhaps there was initially one in place. The waters in NZ would likely be far too cold for Piranhas - so there would be very little risk in them establishing a population.