I agree with TikiSkip. Didn't Rufus once share a scene with Johnny Depp? That's gotta help this be a public interest story for the local news.

I have a couple of contacts at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach provided to me by a good friend. I am reaching out to them today to see where to direct inquiries about any interest in them adopting Rufus. I haven't seen anyone else say they'd actually reached out to the Aquarium yet, but let me know if there is someone else doing this as well.
Ryan

On 2014-02-05 11:31, finky099 wrote:
I have a couple of contacts at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach provided to me by a good friend. I am reaching out to them today to see where to direct inquiries about any interest in them adopting Rufus. I haven't seen anyone else say they'd actually reached out to the Aquarium yet, but let me know if there is someone else doing this as well.
Ryan

I already reached out to them. Unfortunately, they are salt water and Rufus is fresh water, the Aquarium can't help :(

tikiskip that is a great idea! I have not heard back from the folks
I contacted, so nothing solid yet, I hope Thor's efforts are bearing more fruit.

Taking this fish is A LOT of work.
Before AND after you get it, you will need a person or Place
with deep pockets and time to care for this fish.
An Aquarium would be the best place.
But hey some fat cat or actor will do.
Just think of trying to clean that tank!
When you have owned a restaurant in everything you do after
you will think how am I going to clean it.
Heck Johnny Depp may want the thing.
If I were him I would have a whole house built for this fish.
I think Tracy Morgan (comedian) has lots of weird animals.
Your guy is out there and the news will find him or her.

It's a cool fish!
All will work out.
Thank god I don't live there or my wife would have that fish commin to our house.

Doesn't someone on this forum know Quentin Tarantino?

If I could afford a giant Piranha..(or whatever he is), I would take him.

I wonder if the shock of moving him finally does the old boy in? If he is on his last fins, go dump him in one of those stocked lakes like Irvine or Anaheim lake for one last hurrah...and all you can eat buffett!

Looks like you can FexEx HUGE fish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7OPPZib1Ao

"I wonder if the shock of moving him finally does the old boy in?"
I don't think they are That fragile, My coy are not that hard to move and one is over one foot long.
Look at this cluster F&#$.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo2SO5U-YrU

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2014-02-05 17:11 ]

Well Johnny Depp currently resides in Paris, France
so that's not going to happen, my first thought when all of this started was
"Can Rufus survive the shock of a move?"

swizzle's info above was spot on on how that would happen, though
realistically at this time it looks like an individual will need to step up
and take Rufus, I don't think any Tiki establishments will take on the responsibility
of caring for Rufus at this time.

Since no one else has answered the previous question: Rufus is a 34-pound South American Pacu around 38 years old now.
here is an old LA Times article about him: http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jul/16/magazine/tm-53665

Edit: Thanks Lori!

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2014-02-05 19:37 ]

Dam, looks like they can live up to 20 years.
South American Pacu here's all you need to know...
http://www.firsttankguide.net/pacu.php

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2014-02-05 17:28 ]

Looks like San Francisco's famous Steinhart Aquarium took these fish.
"maintenance was grueling"

"Read this story about the enormous tank size requirements for Pacus
I bought two red belly pacus back in 1993, when they were only the size of a half dollar coin. Not doing any research on these two fish, I bought them because I enjoyed their manner in appearance, the way they fed, and their "unaggressiveness"; however, as they slowly grew in size, despite their small size, all of my small connunity fish became their dinner. Years later, (around Sept. 1999) reluctantly, I gave them up. They were still surviving in a 200 liter tank, with crystal clear water flowing endlessly, as they stayed by the bottom of the tank, moving slowly about, and only during feeding time did they briskly move their now 50 cm long, close to 6 kg bodies about. These two beautiful fish were like family members; the maintenance was grueling, but more importantly, I loved them, and could no longer subject them to such confining living space. Living only some 56 km southeast from San Francisco's famous Steinhart Aquarium, I finally got a commitment from the staff that they would keep my fish, instead of "utilizing them as fish feed". My pacus were initially placed in a 2000 liter holding/quarantine tank, making sure they did not harbour any parasites or diseases that could infect other members of the amazon-type setting they would eventually be placed. Finally, my two pacus were placed in a 50,000 liter amazon type pool, along with several larger pacus, caymen, large tortoises, eels, and other amazon type fish. On several occasions I visited them, and they grew even larger (twice their size). Interestingly, I was always able to recognize them (they were lighter in colour) and believe it, or not, I would gently tap on the glass, and "call" out to them: "Hey guys, how are you doing?", and as they had done hundreds of times when I had them at home with me, they would swim where I was, and stay by me, as if saying: "We are fine, now are you going to be feeding us?"

Rufus is illegedly older than I am. Hope he finds a home...

The article was written in 2000 when Rufus was 24. Its now 2014 which would make him 38.

The article was written in 2000 when Rufus was 24. Its now 2014 which would make him 38.

Well my hopes for Damon's are faint... But have not heard a final from owners. In a time where we are seeng the spirit of Tiki and mascots like Rufus be consumed by greed to make $$$$$ over preserve heart and spirit of culture to out historic wonders, the battle continues. The f....ng $ hungry foreign developers continue to sh.... on what we love and cherish in the States I watched it happen in Hawaii and it bleeds into our home towns here.
Rufus is a symbol, as well as a loved creature. Be damned if that lil guy is not cared for by this current owner....take it a week or year to get him in a home worthy of him. Stuff like this really grinds me...and it shakes out the character of all the establishments claiming to have "interest" yet no action.

[ Edited by: Thor's 2014-02-05 19:27 ]

Thanks to everyone for sharing all the knowledge to help with this project. I would happily donate $$ to a fund to help him get moved and hopefully a proper home can be found. I agree...someone contact the local news station to get this situation publicized.

I wish Rufus was in the Midwest and not in LA. Shedd Aquarium has an amazing Amazon gallery and he would be right at home there. Historically Shedd shipped fish collected from the Florida Keys by rail in specialized aquarium tankers so a move of this magnitude is not unprecedented, but it is logistically very challenging.

What size tank was Rufus in at Bahooka?

I'm concerned about Rufus like everyone else. We have a Pacu exhibit up here in Portland at the Oregon Zoo, but that's probably too far to transport. It was almost too far to transport me! Here's the link, though, just to cover the bases in case nothing down there pans out...

http://www.oregonzoo.org/discover/animals/pacu

Hopefully someone in California will be able to provide a new home for him.

I was just in Chicago and saw the Pacu exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium. That would be a good home, too. But, the distance seems daunting...

I actually had my own Rufus for a while. After he cracked a part of the tank he was in i donated him to the aquarium i was working at the time where there was a tank that was much larger than mine.

Pacu's belong to the same family as the neon tetra. He is basically a pirahna without the teeth or an extra large Silver Dollar. Here in Aus. silver dollars are not allowed to be imported into the country under a certain size as it's too hard to tell if they are actually a pirahna or not. Don't ask how i got mine.

And a little trivia for you about Pacu's. They eat figs and cannot digest the seeds so when they pass them they are actually helping the plant disperse it's seeds.

On 2014-02-05 17:51, tikilongbeach wrote:
The article was written in 2000 when Rufus was 24. Its now 2014 which would make him 38.

My bad Lori, thanks for the correction!
my how time flies!

Does anyone have video of Rufus...maybe we can get it to go viral and have exposure to some TV shows?

YouTube video of Rufus feeding.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjtB31ItA-4
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS3HPkTGXM0

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2014-02-05 19:36 ]

The Kau Kau restaurant in Seattle had a pacu named Swishy that died when he was 36. The last 20 years of his life were spent eating carrots and apples at the Kau Kau, before that he was at a dentists office, were he got his name, and he came from another restaurant before that. He only died when he did because his tank sprang a leak one night and when the fish maintenance crew came in the next morning he was on his side in just a splash of water. He lived 6 more days. Swishy liked to have his head rubbed by the tank maintenance crew and would rub his sides against their arms while they cleaned the tank. I've read of a pacu that was still alive after 41 years. So who know how long they can live in captivity. Best wishes and long life Rufus!

aloha, tikicoma

Anyone know anyone that has experience in viral marketing or media attention? I think maybe this could be the only way people give a crap and a qualified care taker step up to the plate now. Seriously !

Pacu's belong to the same family as the neon tetra. He is basically a pirahna without the teeth or an extra large Silver Dollar. Here in Aus. silver dollars are not allowed to be imported into the country under a certain size as it's too hard to tell if they are actually a pirahna or not. Don't ask how i got mine.

grrr. . . Characiform taxonomy seems to always be in a state of flux. In between my first undergrad ichthyology class and the time I began teaching the subject, the Serrasalmids had been rolled in with the tetras and pacu within the Characidae, and the piranha genus Serrasalmus had been invalidated and the accepted senior synonym was now Pygocentrus. Man, I hate having to learn revised taxonomy. . .

Thanks for the info Sunny and R... Got a solution for placing Rufus? Lets stay on subject here and use our "smarts" to solve this!!!!

The Hidden Los Angeles Facebook page posted about Rufus needing a home.
283,000 people follow that page so hopefully someone will help.

The idea of getting an article written or a local new story done is great, having said that - does anyone have the contact information for the new owner or whoever is watching over Rufus now? Also is there a real deadline that has been given?

My girlfriend and I both work in Television and she is really good at this kind of thing (gathering information and cold contacting people), but without information to give newspaper writers or producers it's that much harder to be taken seriously.

She just found contact info for the guy who wrote the article in 2000 (Ed Leibowitz) on Lexis Nexus and is going to try calling him tomorrow to see if it's the same guy, and if the info is correct, and if he's still writing for the LA Times (a lot of ifs). His linked in says he is so maybe that will be successful, but if there was more information to give it would help. Thanks.

On 2014-02-05 20:29, THOR's wrote:
Anyone know anyone that has experience in viral marketing or media attention? I think maybe this could be the only way people give a crap and a qualified care taker step up to the plate now. Seriously !

THOR,

Maybe it's time to consider starting a social media funding campaign like Kickstarter to raise funds for Rufus. Someone could either step up or be designated as a caretaker for Rufus and the funds used for his move and care until a more permanent situation could be determined.

On 2014-02-05 21:17, SoCal Savage wrote:
The idea of getting an article written or a local new story done is great, having said that - does anyone have the contact information for the new owner or whoever is watching over Rufus now? Also is there a real deadline that has been given?

My girlfriend and I both work in Television and she is really good at this kind of thing (gathering information and cold contacting people), but without information to give newspaper writers or producers it's that much harder to be taken seriously.

She just found contact info for the guy who wrote the article in 2000 (Ed Leibowitz) on Lexis Nexus and is going to try calling him tomorrow to see if it's the same guy, and if the info is correct, and if he's still writing for the LA Times (a lot of ifs). His linked in says he is so maybe that will be successful, but if there was more information to give it would help. Thanks.

Savage,

The most recent direct contact for all rings Rufus seemed to be through Fez Moai. He seems to have gone incommunicado lately no doubt because of the treatment he has received because of a few here on TC. Give him a PM. If he does not respond I might have an email for him. Just let me know.