Assiniboine Park Zoo temporarily closes raunchy ray exhibit

The Assiniboine Park Zoowill temporarily close down a new interactive stingray exhibit because the diamond-shaped aquatic creatures have been getting it on with a little too much zeal.

The Winnipeg zoo announced Wednesday it would temporarily shut down the Stingray Beach exhibit because animal care workers have noticed a spike in "natural mating behaviour" that has left some of the cownose stingrays injured.

The move comes just over a month after the27-stingray exhibitopened to the public.

"This kind of behaviour is observed in wild stingrays as well as those in human care," the zoo said on social media.

"While we have seen some improvement, our animal care team requires the opportunity to provide treatment and observe the stingrays at length."

Stingray Beach was planned as a temporary exhibit expected to last for at least one year.

The exhibit gave visitors a chance to touch, feed and learn aboutthe animals in a shallow saltwater pool. There are 25 cownose rays and two southern stingrays in the pool.

The zoo hopes to reopen the exhibit soon and plans to provide an update on Friday.

More from CBC Manitoba: