The Scientific Center of Kuwait (TSCK) announced on Tuesday that it has been successful in breeding the critically endangered sand tiger shark.
The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) is listed on the Britain-headquartered International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. TSCK says it has become the first globally to successfully reproduce this species in captivity.
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The mother, named Bibi and estimated to be more than 20 years old, gave birth to two babies – a male and female – on January 23 at TSCK Aquarium. The babies’ names, Bader and Badriya, were chosen by the public in a vote held on TSCK’s Instagram account.
TSCK has provided and maintained a suitable environment for sand tiger sharks for the past 22 years, said biologist Salem Al-Ablani at a press conference held in Hawally Governorate. But female sand tiger sharks have difficulty maintaining pregnancy in the environment of an aquarium for the full gestation period, which ranges from 12 months to 14 months, due to stressors such as crowding, diet, and water temperature. “The biggest challenge for the Scientific Center was to safeguard the lives of the young sharks after their birth, because the baby sharks need extreme care to be able to survive,” said Al-Ablani. “The survival of this type of shark is considered rare, and very successful models are few and far in between,” he added.