Lab-Bred Sharks Released Into The Sea

December 3, 2004

Release from: TNA (Thailand)

PHUKET – Ninety-nine rare leopard sharks, bred in a laboratory, were released into the Andaman Sea on Thursday in an effort to increase their numbers in their natural habitat.

The 99 sharks, along with nine sea turtles and two million small prawns, were released into the sea in a ceremony to mark His Majesty the King’s birthday on 5th December, Phuket’s deputy governor, Nirand Kalayanamitr, told TNA.

The leopard sharks were all bred by the Phuket Marine Research Centre in an effort to try and save the species from extinction.

The shark population along the Andaman coast has rapidly declined in recent years because of over fishing and the destruction of their natural habitat by humans.

The Phuket authorities and the marine research centre have set up a programme to breed marine life that is nearly extinct, or economically valuable.

The local officials hope that the marine centre’s latest release of sharks, turtles and prawns will help boost Phuket’s marine ecology.

The centre started studying sharks along the Andaman coastline five years ago, before they successfully bred the leopard sharks in captivity, the chief of the marine research centre, Wannakiat Taptimsaeng, told TNA.

The centre has succeeded in breeding two types of leopard sharks – the brown-banded bamboo shark and the Indonesian bamboo shark, which are no more than a metre long when fully grown.

Phuket is internationally famous place for sea diving, and local authorities hope that increasing the population of marine animals will help maintain the resort island’s reputation as one of the world’s most popular tourist spots, the deputy governor said.