JAKARTA: At just a few dozen centimetres long, newly hatched zebra sharks Lingka and Spotty Dotty carry the weight of their species on their little dorsal fins.

The two female hatchlings born in Indonesia are part of a unique programme that hopes to rebuild the population of the endangered species in the Raja Ampat region.

The striking black-and-cream striped pair were transported as eggs from a breeding programme at the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium and conservationists hope they will eventually join four other shark pups that have so far been released into the wild by StAR, an international project to reintroduce zebra sharks.

Research suggests just 20 zebra sharks remain in Raja Ampat, an area known for its abundant marine life and spectacular coral reefs.

“Although there are several large-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) in the region and many species of reef sharks have rebounded across the 20 years of the MPAs being implemented, zebra sharks have not,” said Laura Simmons, regional curator for SEA LIFE Aquariums in Australia and New Zealand.

“There was a need for genetically appropriate animals to be augmented into Raja Ampat, and public aquaria had them,” she said. The StAR project hopes to build a population of 500 zebra sharks in the region in a decade, the minimum size required for a healthy and genetically diverse population.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2024