Need to unwind? Meet some flesh-eating piranhas face-to-face at the River Safari

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HEL. LO. MY. NAME. IS. PI. RA. NHA.
YOU. LIKE. MY. TEETH. TEE. HEE.

The red-bellied piranhas, known for their fearsome and blood-thirsty reputation, are being kept under maximum security at the River Safari.

River Safari's curator Wah Yap Hon, told RazorTV that if the fish were in Singapore's natural water bodies, they could establish themselves, and an unsuspecting person who encounter these fish out in the waters may end up injured.

To up the security factor, the fishes' display enclosure is made of concrete to discourage tampering. Only authorised staff have the passcode to enter the backroom to where the fish are kept. The room is also monitored by CCTV.

In order to limit breeding, only male piranhas were brought in.

Despite this, there are extra measures to make sure the fish cannot breed, such as making sure their population numbers tally. If staff do discover any eggs in the tank, they will be destroyed.

Yap Hon says the fish are just misunderstood.

"They can be quite timid creatures. When we are feeding or cleaning the tank, they actually move away from the food or our cleaning utensils.

"They don't snap at the first thing that enters their territory."

Under the Fisheries Act, piranhas are not allowed to be kept or bred in Singapore. But after a 2-year period and many meetings with the authorities, approval was finally given to the park.