Monster fish eludes capture as Chinese city drains lake, millions watch

Monster fish eludes capture as Chinese city drains lake, millions watch

By Lyric Li

Source: Washington Post

8/25/2022

Credit: slowmotiongli /iStock / Getty Images Plus

A furtive “monster” fish caught national attention in China this week as millions of people tuned in to a multiday effort to capture it.
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The fish, estimated to be at least 27 1/2 inches long, was first spotted in mid-July by a resident in Ruzhou, a landlocked central Chinese city. Local authorities identified it as an alligator gar – a torpedo-shaped freshwater fish with razor-sharp teeth – and launched an operation to capture it.

Officials fear the fish, whose origin is traced back some 100 million years by fossil records, would attack humans.

The “monster” busters faced a challenge: They had to first locate the fish in Yunchan Lake, a 30-acre artificial body of water rife with aquatic plants near the bottom. After two weeks searching in vain, the local government announced it would drain the entire lake.

As the draining neared an end Tuesday, media outlets and Chinese TikTok influencers swarmed to the site for a glimpse of the fish. A live stream by the state-run tabloid Chutian Metropolis Daily attracted more than 37 million viewers, as the hunting team set up searchlights and combed remaining puddles with fishing nets.