Major update on preserved great white shark that was found in abandoned wildlife park
An update has been issued on the preserved great white shark who was abandoned in a theme park while in a tub of formaldehyde.
Rosie the great white shark died in 1997 when she got caught in tuna fishing nets off the Australian coast and couldn't escape. With no safe option available, the choice was made to humanely kill her.
Her body was stored in a freezer for educational purposes, though at one point she had to undergo an autopsy following reports of a person going missing off the coast.
Wildlife park Wildlife Wonderland said they were interested in taking her carcass in as an exhibit in 1998, and reportedly shelled out AU $500,000 (£250,000) to buy her.
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She would soon end up in her new home in a tank of toxic formaldehyde to preserve her body.
The centre would sadly close down in 2012, but while other (live) animals were moved, Rosie stayed put for years, remaining in her glass tank while everything decayed around her.
Rosie, a rare and near-perfect specimen, remained a popular exhibit as people would often break in, as videos were posted on social media, showing certain members of the public taking it a step too far.
Someone even threw a TV into the tank and others used a hammer to try and smash the glass - which would have covered them in the toxic liquid.
Rosie was acquired by Crystal World Exhibition Centre in 2019, with her now belonging to a natural history lover named Tom, who displays her in a car park.
Speaking to The Sun, Tom said that he keeps her outside his crystal and rock trade business in Devon Meadows, an hour outside Melbourne, Australia.
Following the drama around people breaking in to see Rosie in her old home, the landowner planned to have her destroyed for safety reasons before Tom stepped in.
"I’m just a crazy old guy who likes rocks and dead sharks," he explained, adding: “It would be sacrilegious if she had been buried in landfill. Doesn’t everyone want a shark preserved in their backyard?”
He spent thousands to save her, admitting he's always been this way by claiming he 'grew up with reptiles and animals around', something his father encouraged. He even had a go at preserving snakes.
After YouTuber Luke McPherson uploaded a viral, eerie video of him discovering Rosie floating in the tank in 2018, the world became aware of her whereabouts.
"People opened the tank up and were using hedge trimmers to try break teeth out of Rosie’s mouth," Tom recalled people doing.
He explained: “It’s a 20ft long tank the size of a shipping container filled with formaldehyde and kids were throwing rocks at the glass.
“Had they broken the glass, they would have been killed.”
Tom had first seen Rosie back in 2012, when he toured the abandoned theme park while thinking about buying the property.
He said that he doesn't charge people to see the great white, highlighting: “It was never about making money out of her. If anything she’s cost me a significant amount of money," adding that they are 'beautiful creatures' and that we shouldn't be destroying their homes.
Joshua Nair