Tiger Sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) in Captivity
Thanks to Andy Dehart, Paul Groves, Alan Henningsen, Raul
Marin-Osorno, Mark Smith, Alejandro Zepeda, and Filipe Pereira for much
of the information on this page. Crow and Hewitt (1988) reported on "Longevity
records for captive tiger sharks with notes on behaviour and management in Int.
Zoo Yearbook 27, 237-240. Dehart (1996) presented a tiger shark
summary Henry Doorly Zoo 30-10-1996. New
website for tiger sharks in captivity by Raul Marin-Osorno.
Photograph | Aquarium/Details | TL (m) M (kg) |
Cap. |
Time in captivity |
---|---|---|---|---|
Additional information from Ted Kissel: The Arizona Aquarium at one time housed a Tiger Shark. It wasn't on their top 20 marine species list so I'd expect it has already either been released or died. There was also for a short time a Tiger Shark housed in the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota Florida in 2006 that was sent to an aquarium in Texas (I think it was either Dallas or Houston not 100% sure which). | ||||
![]() 1 Aug 2009 |
Adventure Aquarium, Camden Waterfront, New Jersey |
1.65
|
Early July 2009 | 2 yr, died in late July 2011 |
Al Gahardaqa Marine Lab in Hurghada, Egypt (Gohar and Mazhar 1964) | <1964 | 30-60 d | ||
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Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach (LA) This female tiger shark pup came from Taiwan in February 2009, after its mother was killed by local fishermen. The term-embryo was removed from the mother's uterus and raised in captivity. It was transported by air to LA and trucked to Long Beach. The specimen was kept inside a safety pen within the Shark Lagoon exhibit from February to June, until it was put on exhibit. The specimen outgrew the available exhibit and was released in Sept. 2009. Thanks to Ted Kissel for update. |
Feb 2009 | 7 months as of Sep 2009 when released | |
Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, Bahamas |
2.5 y | |||
Durban (Van De Elst et al., 1983) | <1983 | 1/3 y | ||
Coral World Bahamas | ||||
Coral World Eilat, Israel kept one for many years, was released as it outgrew the exhbit according to Paul Groves. | ||||
Disney's Epcot Center's Living Seas Pavillion,
Orlando (USA) |
3.3 y | |||
Henry Doorly Zoo Omaha. . |
2.4 |
1995/6 | 2.25 y | |
Mandalay Bay Shark Reef, Las Vegas |
> 1 yr | |||
Manly Marine Land Australia kept 3.9 m TL specimen. Food consumption was 4% of bodymass per day (Crow and Hewitt 1988). | 3.9 | <1988 | ||
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Maui Ocean Centre obtained a specimen according to
March 1999 email by Paul Groves. Photo of tiger shark currently on display
(for about 1.5 yr) came from Filipe Pereira, |
1999 | 1.5 | |
New Jersey State Aquarium | ||||
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Okinawa Exp Aquarium kept 1.5 m TL specimen. Consumed
1.3% of bodymass per day (Crow and Hewitt 1988). March 2017: Footage of tiger shark giving birth (URL from Victor Lin, 20+ pups) |
<1988 | 1.75 y | |
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Osaka Aquarium, Japan On September 25, 2008, a male tiger shark, measuring 1.4 meters TL, was brought to the aquarium's Pacifc Ocean tank (5.400 tons of water) to join the two whale sharks, the manta ray, the devil ray, the scalloped hammerhead sharks and thousands of other fish. Thanks to Filipe Pereira. |
1.4 | ||
SeaWorld (Gold Coast, Australia) kept a tiger shark for 18 months during the early 80s. It was released during a particularly hot summer when it was impossible to keep the water temperature of the display below the upper limit for the shark and it started to exhibit signs of chronic stress. The temperature in the exhibit reached about 32 oC. | Early 80's | 1.5 y | ||
Sea World of Florida, Orlando USA |
2.0 | <1988 | 3.25 y | |
Shark Bay Gold Coast by Sea World Australia (from Aug. 13, 2003 elasmo-l posting by the marine sciences director) The lagoon will have no coral or rock bommies and has been made to resemble an ocean environment. The pool will allow over 70m of uninterrupted swim glide pattern with no square corners and will range in depth from 1.8m to 4m. Presently, one 3.9 m female tiger, one 2.96 m male tiger, two female dusky whalers 3.3 m and 3.4 m, two female sandbar sharks 1.95 m and 1.98 m, and one female silvertip shark 1.9 m are held in a shallower tempory pool with long glide path and wide turning circles. The 2.9m Tiger shark had a very bad wound from the hook which had gashed its face, up to the first gill rake. This was stitched by our vet on arrival at our park and is healing exceptionally well considering the serious nature of the initial injury, and the shark is under antibiotic treatment via its daily food intake. All sharks are eating well which is another indicator that they are feeling better about their surroundings and health. |
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Veracruz, Mexico |
3.5; 3.0: |
1998-2004 |
>6 y |
Photograph | Aquarium/Details | TL (m) M (kg) |
Cap. Date |
Time in captivity |