The beautiful leopard shark glides through the water.
Two lovesick leopard sharks are travelling across Australia today in the search for love.
The two female sharks have been living in Townsville, Queensland since they were born, but they have now almost outgrown their old tank at the Reef HQ aquarium and it was decided that they should do as nature intended and find a mate to breed with.
That lucky chap is currently living in Melbourne where he’s been just as lonely. It is hoped that the sharks will hit it off and Melbourne Aquarium will soon be hearing the tiny patter of little fins. Although for now the sharks will only be able to eye each other at a distance, as these females are still too young to breed. They measure up at around a metre long, but need to be at least 1.7 metres before they can reproduce. An adult leopard shark can grow up to 3 metres long.
 It’s all part of a breeding programme at Melbourne which has proved unsuccessful for many other aquariums. Because of the lack of such programs, leopard sharks still need to be collected from the wild for display in aquariums. However the good news is that the leopard shark is not in any danger of depletion in the wild, with recent figures suggesting that the leopard shark population is increasing by around 3 – 6% annually.
The sharks have a long journey through Australia ahead of them. They will travel by road to Cairns and from there will take a flight to Victoria before being transferred by road to Melbourne Aquarium and their new home. Let’s hope this is one love story that has a happy fin.
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