TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Bandung zoo has brought a new type of species to attract visitors during this year’s Eid. They are two giant amazonian arapaima fish from Brazil.
"Two Amazonian Arapaima fish sizing 1.8 meteres are placed in an aquarium as big as a car," Bandung Zoo spokesman Sudaryo told Tempo yesterday.
Arapaima fish is a rare freshwater fish that lives in the Amazon River, South America. The fish is seen as a giant due to its size that could grow up to three meters.
The species is rare, important to science, and becomes one of the important trade comodities from the Amazon.
Sudaryo said the zoo had been having the fish since five years ago. "Then, it was still 40 centimeters in length and lived in a pool. It feeds on small goldfish and mujair [tilapia fish]."
A week ago, the two fish were moved to one aquarium. "They were moved to a special aquarium with the size of an APV car, special for Eid holiday," Sudaryo said promoting, expecting the Bandung Zoo can attract more visitors. "For this year’s Eid, we target 130,000 visitors in ten days. The ticket fare is Rp20,000 per person."
ERICK P. HARDI | MARTHA SILABAN