The great snakehead fish hoax
July 1st, 2009 | by Nick |
Last year The Sun in its indomitable style (among others) reported on the worrying discovery of a snakehead fish in the River Witham.
A SAVAGE fish more terrifying than a piranha has been caught in Britain for the first time – sparking fears of a deadly invasion. The vicious giant snakehead EATS everything it comes across and has even been reported to KILL people.The monster – from south-east Asia – has a mouth crammed with fearsome teeth, can “crawl” on land and survive out of water for up to four days. ….
An Environment Agency source said last night: “The reaction was, ‘Oh s***’. This is the ultimate invasive species – if it starts breeding here it’s a disaster.” Angler Andy Alder caught the snakehead while using a sprat as bait for pike on the River Witham near North Hykeham, Lincs.
Andy, of Lincoln, said: “It had a gob full of razor-sharp teeth. To be honest it looked terrifying.”
The snakehead fish is a major enviromental problem in the Southern US. But fortunately, the story turned out to be a hoax. Wikipedia notes: The Norfolk Eastern Daily Press reported in March:
Expert opinion from fish scientists insisted this warm water species could never survive in the icy Lincolnshire river for more than a few seconds. It has since been discovered the snakehead was actually dead laying in a Lincoln street and the finder preserved it in a domestic freezer until the following weekend when the misleading pictures were taken.
Fears about the impact of last December’s severe weather, the coldest in 100 years, were unfounded. The drop in small bird populations witnessed in the 
The oldest osprey of the UK – and probably the world – has returned to her eyrie in the Scottish highlands. When she left for West Africa at the end of last summer, no one expected her to return. At 26 she’s lived 3 times longer than most female ospreys. In her life she’s laid 58 eggs and hatched 48 chicks, a massive individual contribution to the survival of ospreys in Scotland, where there are still only about 200 breeding pairs. The questions now are if her mate will return and if she is still fertile. Events can be followed on the 
The construction company currently finishing off the Shard building in London, which will be the UK’s tallest skyscraper, recently had to call the council to remove a squatter from the 72nd floor: a young fox. He was surviving on scraps left by builders. After a check-up at the Riverside Animal Centre, the fox has been released on the streets of Bermondsey, having shown the type of curiosity we associate with cats. 
Otters, water voles and fish are all benefitting from the improved quality of the UK’s waterways, now described as the cleanest since the industrial revolution. Since almost disappearing from the wild in the 1970s, otters are thriving, particularly in the south west of England, Cumbria and Northumberland. The population of water voles, highly precarious in the 1990s, is also beginning to recover. The good results of stricter pollution controls and extensive conservation work are set to continue in the new year with the introduction of new European water quality directives. 
