3rd of June, 2005. Sydney, Australia.
The NSW Primary Industries Minister, the Honourable Ian McDonald, has announced radical plans to ensure the survival of the Grey Nurse Shark.
The Grey Nurse (C. taurus) has not recovered from the effects of commercial and recreational fishing since protection in 1984. Extinction remains a possibility.
A dual uterine breeder, the female produces up to 20 ova in each uterus. Upon hatching the young sharks eat their weaker siblings until only one remains in each uterus, a process known as inter-uterine-canabalism.
The breeding plan calls for the removal of embryos from a female’s uterus, and hatching them in test-tubes. The young sharks will then be released to boost wild populations.
