Woman shares concerning update on preserved great white shark found abandoned in wildlife park

A woman visiting Australia's most famous preserved shark has spotted something worrying about her tank, and now people are asking what happened to Rosie.

Rosie the great white shark is perhaps one of Australia's strangest attractions - which is quite an achievement.

The five-metre shark was originally caught in 1997 and, after dying in captivity, her body was preserved in a tank at the former Wildlife Wonderland Park in Victoria up until 2012 when the park was forced to close and fell into disrepair.

Rosie was left abandoned in her tank until 2019 when she was rescued and relocated to Crystal World Exhibition Centre, where she remains on display today.

But when one TikTok user travelled to pay Rosie a visit in person, she was concerned about the display condition, after noticing that the liquid level in her tank was much lower than expected.

Posting a video of Rosie's condition to TikTok, she told her followers: "I know the tank was damaged a while back, and I thought they had repaired it, but that glass on the back side is still shattered and the water level is just so low."

She continued: "Regardless it was great seeing Rosie in person. I just wish she was still being taken care of."

However, plenty of Aussies in the comments were keen to chime in and point out that Rosie is not actually being kept in water, but in a glycerin-based solution which stops her remains from breaking down over time.

So, while the half-empty tank containing a giant shark might look like an eerie scene from a horror film, there's a little more to Rosie's preservation than meets the eye.

Crystal World, the exhibition centre where Rosie is now displayed, says that there is an ongoing effort to preserve and maintain the shark as a piece of natural history.

The team behind Rosie's new display had to dispose of the contaminated formaldehyde solution she was originally being preserved in, before placing her in a new glycerin solution to help maintain her condition.

But that hasn't stopped some viewers from feeling uncomfortable about Rosie remaining on display.

Some TikTokers were upset by the video, campaigning in the comments for the great white to be taken out of the tank altogether.

One person wrote: "I wish they would just let this poor shark rest in peace. Her body is decaying. It's awful."

Another agreed: "Why can't someone just bury her and let her body go and be at peace..."

The debate around Rosie's future shows just how much interest this shark has sparked over the years.

Rosie first made headlines in 1998 when she became trapped in a tuna fishing net off the coast of South Australia. Although efforts were made to free her, the entanglement was too severe and she was sadly euthanised.

A number of institutions expressed interest in the great white's remains, impressed by the predator's size.

Eventually it was Wildlife Wonderland in Victoria who got to take her home, hosting her in a tank of formaldehyde as a tourist attraction until it shut down.

In 2019, Rosie was rescued from her decaying tank by the owner of Crystal World Exhibition Centre and set her up in a new permanent exhibit in a safer glycerol solution.

Now, TikTok has brought new attention to Rosie, helping her keep her spot as one of Australia's most unusual attractions.