Synchronized fish or fun with magnets?
Fu Yandong, a Chinese magician has sparked outrage from animal rights groups with a trick in which he gets goldfish to swim in sync. They suspect that Fu uses magnets embedded inside the fish.
The trick involves six fish in a shallow tank on a covered table, who swim in formation at Fu's command.
Fu has so far refused to reveal the secret.
"My fish," he wrote on his microblog, are "living happily".
But his assurances have failed to quell the controversy.
In an open letter on Monday, 53 Chinese non-governmental organisations urged TV stations not to broadcast Fu's act in the future, and demanded the trick not be repeated during CCTV's Lantern Festival special.
The groups expressed fears the trick could lead to animals being tortured if viewers tried to copy it.
