An unlikely discovery has been made in a Doncaster lake – and it is feared that they may be killing local ducks and fish.
A lone piranha, a fish usually found in the River Amazon and South American waters, was discovered by local Toni Hooper on Sunday while she and her family were out on a walk, following rumours that the predators had been lurking in local waters.
Hooper, 32, said the sighting “sent shivers down her spine”.
“This is a popular spot amongst families, dog walkers and fishermen. It’s always busy here,” she said.
On Monday, walkers Davey and Lisa Holmes discovered another dead piranha floating on the surface of Martinwells Lake in Edlington, Doncaster Free Press reported.
The pair identified their curious finding on the internet.
Holmes said: “My partner is a fisherman and was looking around the edge of the lake when he suddenly spotted this fish floating near one of the pegs.
“He managed to get it out of the water and although he’s a keen angler, he wasn’t sure what type of fish it was straight away. But then we started looking at it more closely and saw the teeth, we realised it was a piranha.”
The local council said it has handed the dead fish to the Environment Agency for tests.
One expert claimed that the fish may have been kept as pets and released into the water after getting too big for their tanks.
Gill Gillies, assistant director of environment at Doncaster council, said it was “highly unlikely” they were alive at any time while in the lake, the Guardian reported.
The deadly, razor-toothed fish cause minor injuries on humans, but they have been known to result in death, including a Brazilian girl who died after her boat capsized during a family trip.