Iran’s love of goldfish as a table-top symbol of good luck costs the lives of five million of the creatures every year, a press report said on Wednesday.
From March to early April, when Iranians celebrate Norooz — New Year in the Persian calendar — millions of the small fish are bred in unsanitary pools and transferred in buckets and tanks to the big cities.
But according to the Shargh newspaper, five million of them do not survive the journey to the Iranian home, where they feature alongside eggs, wheat, garlic, apples and coins as a sign of fertility, health and good luck.
Those that do survive are sometimes kept as pets or otherwise released into the wild — frequently ponds in parks — where their chances of survival are also low. — AFP