Villagers rescue 200kg catfish stranded after floods
- 6 years ago
This is the incredible moment dozens of villagers team up to rescue a 200kg stranded swamp fish.
The enormous Mekong giant catfish, a critically endangered species, had lived in marshes in coastal province Phatthalung, southern Thailand, since 1991, becoming a local legend.
But heavy rains at the end of last month caused flooding in the region - washing the massive beast from its home into a tiny pond.
The waters subsided and on Monday (11/12) morning and residents spotted the creature - nicknamed the ’swamp king’ by locals - frantically thrashing around in the shallow water.
They banded together and used a giant net to haul the wild fish out of the water and onto a motorbike trailer before racing over two miles to return it to its original home.
Footage captured the entire rescue - which took more than six hours - as they released the Pangasianodon species of catfish back into its original stretch of water during sunset.
Resident Khun Sooktong, from the Phatthalung district, said: ‘’This is a natural fish that was left in the marshes of the village in 1991. We call it the swamp king. It’s like a monster.
''At the end of November, continuing to the beginning of December this year, rain made the swamps overflow. There was more rain this year than ever before.
‘’It’s expected that the fish escaped from one swamp and went into another, about three km from the village.
''I found it on December 12 but at the time was not able to handle it. So on Monday a lot of people came to help and it took sixes hours to release the fish to its original home.’'
The enormous Mekong giant catfish, a critically endangered species, had lived in marshes in coastal province Phatthalung, southern Thailand, since 1991, becoming a local legend.
But heavy rains at the end of last month caused flooding in the region - washing the massive beast from its home into a tiny pond.
The waters subsided and on Monday (11/12) morning and residents spotted the creature - nicknamed the ’swamp king’ by locals - frantically thrashing around in the shallow water.
They banded together and used a giant net to haul the wild fish out of the water and onto a motorbike trailer before racing over two miles to return it to its original home.
Footage captured the entire rescue - which took more than six hours - as they released the Pangasianodon species of catfish back into its original stretch of water during sunset.
Resident Khun Sooktong, from the Phatthalung district, said: ‘’This is a natural fish that was left in the marshes of the village in 1991. We call it the swamp king. It’s like a monster.
''At the end of November, continuing to the beginning of December this year, rain made the swamps overflow. There was more rain this year than ever before.
‘’It’s expected that the fish escaped from one swamp and went into another, about three km from the village.
''I found it on December 12 but at the time was not able to handle it. So on Monday a lot of people came to help and it took sixes hours to release the fish to its original home.’'