So, a Brazilian man’s attempt to escape bees on a fishing trip ended in his death by piranha this past weekend.
According to the Australian news website 7News, the man died in Brazil while fishing with friends.
The predatory fish is known for living in freshwater areas in South America. They live in parts of Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina. Oh, did I mention the United States? Those fish are here too.
South America’s Amazon River basin is home to around 30 species of piranhas.
Want to know what the fish look like in action? Here’s one video.
Death By Fish
The 30-year-old man and two friends were fishing at a lake on a farm near Brasilândia de Minas. The area is almost a 13-hour drive north of Sao Paulo.
The men came in contact with a massive swarm of bees. According to The India Times, the men’s boat hit logs and disturbed a beehive. The men jumped out, and one man didn’t make it back to shore. The other two men did – one of the survivors was allergic to bee stings.
When fire department officials responded to the scene, an officer was about to dive in the water for a search. Luckily, others caught the officer before he leaped to his possible death.
After hours of searching, officials recovered the man’s body about 13 feet offshore.
The fish or fishes had “torn open several parts of the body and tore open the right side of the face.”
The El Nacional newspaper said that authorities are currently investigating the man’s death. They don’t know if he drowned, couldn’t escape a piranha, or multiple predatory fish killed the man.
The firefighters told officials found the man in a “boxer” position near the water. Another newspaper, Portal O Tempo, said that body’s condition gives cause to believe the man drowned.
Piranahas In The USA?
Well, yes. Kind of.
Currently, it is legal to own piranhas in some states. Do you live in Michigan, New Hampshire, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North and South Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Wisconsin? You can get one, God Bless America.
Can you die in the United States from a piranha attack?
California Wildlife officials had one incident in 1987. One piranha made its way to a Riverside County pond. Officials drained the pond to find no other man-eating fish.
Texas, however, has some of those ferocious fish. These fish have found a way to the Lone Star State by the aquarium trade. And apparently, owners who can’t manage to have the fish as pets go down to the lake and drop the fish in.
The Houston Chronicle reported a pre-teen caught one fish at Houston’s Tom Bass Park Lake in 2011.