Penguins and otters at a Japanese aquarium are picky eaters: They refuse the cheaper fish their keepers have recently been serving them because of soaring prices, forcing the site to cut corners.
Some penguins are very adamant.
"They first take (the new fish, editor's note) in their beak, but then they decree that they do not like it and reject it", said Wednesday Hiroki Shimamoto, the person in charge of the aquarium of Hakone (south -west of Tokyo).
Rather than a matter of taste, Hiroki Shimamoto assumes that the penguins are perplexed by the size of the new fish, which are larger than the old ones: "They feel that there is something wrong", he thinks .
The otters are even tougher, having unanimously refused the cheaper fish, he said.
Prices up 20 to 30%
Prices for horse mackerel, the fish the aquarium used to serve its penguins and otters, jumped 20 to 30 percent from a year ago, due to lower catches.
The aquarium is still buying some horse mackerel, but has no plans to revert entirely to its old menu until prices drop, says Hiroki Shimamoto.
Penguins and otters will therefore have to take their troubles patiently.
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