Exclusive - Woman Traveled Across 15 Countries To Find The Most Expensive Pet Fish. The Price Tag Will Shock You!

If you think taking care of a pet is expensive enough, think again. 

Common house pets are usually cats or dogs, and the trusty old gold fish people like looking at while it swims through the tiny aquarium. 

A woman risked terrorists, head-hunters, and the ‘fish mafia’ to see the most expensive pet fish in the world, the Asian Arowana. 

Emily Voigt went out on a journey to look for this fish, which is believed by the Chinese to bring good luck and prosperity because of its colored and coin-like scales. 

Her book, The Dragon Behind the Glass, is about her journey across 15 countries in search of the Asian Arowana in the wild. 

In a phone interview with National Geographic at her home in New York, she explained how a well-meaning conservation effort to protect the Arowana paradoxically increased its attractiveness to collectors. She told the story of how her search for the Arowana took over her life, and why putting a fish in a tank is part of our innate desire to connect with other species.

She explained that the Asian Arowana is a tropical freshwater fish from South East Asia that grows three feet long, and is a fierce predator that dates back to the age of the dinosaurs. 

Voigt shared a story of when she attended the Aquarama International Fish Competition, when 10 rare, albino Arowana showed up with a police motorcade, protected by armed guards, to prevent anyone adding poison to the tanks. 

The highest price she heard for a single fish is $300,000, which was supposedly sold to a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party.

In her book, Voigt reveals more about her experience in dealing with ‘fish war zones’ and her adventures in places like the Amazon and Asian countries.

Source: TNP , Nationalgeographic