Hilarious reaction from fussy penguins who REFUSE to eat their food in Japanese aquarium after switching to cheaper fish
- The aquarium in southern Japan wanted to save by switching to a cheaper mackerel species, but the penguins were not interested
- Images show how the birds refuse their new food and even run away
- Rising prices mean even birds are feeling the pinch as the cost of living increases the price of their favorite fish by a third
Talk about a cost of living crisis! Cute images show penguins refusing their food after entering an aquarium Japan tried to save money by switching to a cheaper type of fish.
The decision did not go down well with the birds seen in the video shaking their heads and turning their beaks away from the fish as the staff do their best to feed them.
An aquarium worker tries to lure the fussy penguin to eat the treat by waving the fish in its face, but to no avail. These penguins know what they want.
Picky penguin turns beak away from cheaper fish species in Japanese aquarium after management tried to switch to a cheaper alternative
Not have! Penguin refuses the cheaper fish after getting used to the much more expensive and obviously much tastier one!
Unlike the birds, the cost of living crisis continues to bite around the world with a knock-on effect on fish prices that have jumped to new and worrying levels.
As a result of this walk, Hakone-en’s aquarium made the unpopular decision to resort to cheaper alternatives for their animals – which clearly didn’t go down well!
Management switched from horse mackerel ‘aji’ to common mackerel, known in Japanese as ‘saba’ after ‘aji’ prices rose 20-30% in May.
An aquarium worker (above) tries and fails to get the picky eater to eat the cheaper variety of mackerel after fish prices rise, removing their perennial favorite (horse mackerel) from the menu
However, the manager, Daiki Shimamoto, has made it clear that the aquarium will not force the birds to eat anything they do not want. He said, “We wouldn’t force any animal to eat what they don’t want.”
Not too far outside the capital Tokyo, the aquarium is home to 32,000 animals, including sharks, seals and otters.
Unfortunately, rising food costs are not the only problem the facility currently faces.
Rising electricity costs mean they are taking steps to conserve electricity by making changes, such as reducing the number of times the filter tank is cleaned.
Shimamoto also ruled out an increase in the entrance fee for visitors, which he says would be “the end of the story” as he wants to attract as many people as possible.
Horse mackerel prices have risen by a third, forcing the Hakone-en aquarium to switch to regular mackerel — a decision not welcomed by their resident penguins who have grown accustomed to the taste of the fattier species.