An angler who escaped from a swarm of bees by jumping into a lake was eaten by piranhas.
The 30-year-old man was on a day out fishing with two friends in the municipality of Brasilandia de Minas, in southern Brazil. When the swarm of bees attacked, all three rushed into the water. Two made it back to the shore when they realised the lake was swarming with piranhas.
Firemen later found the dead man’s body four metres from the shore. They said that the fish had “torn open several parts of the body and the right side of the face”. An initial investigation suggested that he drowned rather than died from wounds inflicted by the fish.
About 30 species of piranha live in the Amazon basin. They rarely attack humans and when they do such attacks often involve a single bite and are rarely fatal. The presence of fishermen is believed to increase the chances of an attack because of the commotion caused by bait in the water. Low water levels also raise the risk. Experts say that people should not splash if they are surrounded by piranhas, as this can provoke aggressive behaviour. In December 2013 more than 70 bathers were attacked in Rosario, Argentina. They were bitten on the hands and feet.
In January 2015 a six-year-old girl, Adrila Muniz, was found dead in Brazil’s Maicuru River near Monte Alegre after being surrounded by piranhas.
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There are tales of piranhas attacking thirsty cattle and reducing them to skeletons in minutes, but such cases are rare. President Roosevelt saw such an attack, staged by local farmers who had starved the fish first, on a hunting trip in 1913.