Chinese demand ban on goldfish magic trick watched by hundreds of millions on TV amid claims of animal abuse

A magic trick with goldfish that was watched by hundreds of millions of Chinese on TV during the Lunar New Year celebrations may have involved abuse including implanted magnets and should be banned, according to animal rights activists.

The trick was performed during a China Central Television gala on January 30, eve of the Lunar New Year festival. The gala is China's most watched broadcast of the year.

Goldfish are a symbol of wealth in China, but the image of six of them swimming in perfect synchronisation under magician Fu Yandong's direction alarmed many Chinese, who worried that magnets were implanted in the fish or that they were controlled by electric current.