Zoo stingray sucks fish and girl's finger

FRESNO, Calif. -- A hungry stingray clamped down on a child's hand as she fed it a piece of fish at a Fresno, Calif., zoo.

Frightened, the girl yanked her hand back, pulling the sea creature out of the water. She was not injured, zoo staff said.

The March 22 incident at the Chaffee Zoo was the third such human-ray encounter since the traveling "Stingray Bay" exhibit opened there March 15.

In each case, one of the 32 rays on display in water captured a person's finger during feeding and then let go without doing harm.

Zoo spokeswoman Patty Peters said rays feed by sucking in their prey and can sometimes overshoot the offering of a piece of fish and latch on to a person's finger, usually for just a moment.

"Stingrays don't have teeth," Peters said. "They use like a suction to get their food."

Docile by nature, the rays are rendered essentially harmless by clipping their venomous spines which rays use as protection against predators, Peters said.

Even so, Brian Joseph, chief operating officers of San Diego-based Living Exhibits, which supplied the Chaffee Zoo exhibit, said it was the first time in 30 years that he has heard of an exhibit visitor pulling a ray completely out of the water as the 8-year-old Fresno girl did.

The exhibit carries several signs in English and Spanish advising people how to safely offer the rays pieces of fish that are sold on site for $1 a cup.

Zoo security manager Rene Martin said Monday the 8-year-old Fresno girl was examined by paramedics, who found no injuries beyond a slight swelling of one of her fingers. The child was sent home with her father, Martin said.

After the incident, the zoo's staff returned the ray to the water. The exhibit itself remained open and staff fed its 25 cownose and seven larger Southern rays during the weekend. It was a cownose that captured the girl's finger.

Public hand feeding resumed Monday.

"We believe it was an isolated incident," Peters said. "These are very docile animals." Peters said the zoo plans no changes to the exhibit.

"This is all about a touching experience," Peters said. "It's not dangerous. Absolutely, we're not going to stop."

E-mail Charles McCarthy at cmccarthy(at)fresnobee.com

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)