By Xinhua
Buenos Aires : As many as 40,000 cattle were attacked by carnivorous piranha fish in the northern Argentine province of Formosa, the region’s producers association Aprobae said in a statement.
The focus of the attack is the 400,000-hectare Banado La Estrella area, 1,500 km north of Buenos Aries, home to 300,000 cattle.
Thousands of the deadly fish have been trapped in the area by dams that have formed. They attack animals that come to drink the water, according to the Aprobae statement published Wednesday in local newspapers.
Pablo Herrera, coordinator of the Gran Chaco Forest Life Foundation, said the area had a great deal of biodiversity.
Rafael Silva, head of the Formosa Province Water Coordinating Unit, said that there have always been piranhas in the area.
“Public works are trying to better distribute the water so that drought areas can benefit. Some 70,000 people live in such areas,” said water authorities.