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Vancouver Aquarium’s new shark exhibit includes ‘near-threatened’ species

The Vancouver Aquarium has a new exhibit using species of sharks and rays that a conservation group lists as vulnerable or near-threatened, the Vancouver Sun reports.

The Secret World of Sharks and Rays, which opened Feb. 7 and runs to the end of April, turns a spotlight on lesser known sharks and related species of skates, rays and ratfishes.

But a number of the fish the aquarium obtained for the special exhibit appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "red list," which rates species according to the level of risk they face, the Sun said. Near-threatened and vulnerable are the second- and third-lowest of the six risk levels of the conservation group, which calls itself the world's oldest and largest global environmental organization.

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The Sun said the aquarium, located in Stanley Park, brought in the zebra shark, rated as vulnerable, the tasselled wobbegong, near threatened, the blue-spotted fantail ray, near threatened, and the epaulette shark, rated as least concern.

Aquarium spokeswoman Linda Nishida stressed the imported fish are not subject to international trade bans.

“All of our shark and ray species come from managed populations and none originated from IUCN’s habitats of concern” or are listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, she said.

“The suppliers we work with ensure that the animals are coming from managed populations."

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The Sun said the aquarium already had some shark and ray species in its collection before its new exhibit: blacktip reef shark, near threatened; whitespotted bamboo shark, near threatened; ocellated freshwater stingray, data deficient; tiger stingray, data deficient; Xingu River rays, data deficient; spotted ratfish, least concern; and Pacific spiny dogfish, vulnerable.