Animal rights activists in China are furious with magician Fu Yandong who performs the trick seen above in which he directs goldfish to swim in formations. He was meant to encore the trick today during a Lunar New Year holiday TV program but China Central Television cancelled the performance in light of the controversy. From AFP:

However, a separate regional broadcaster said magician Fu Yandong would perform the controversial trick again on Thursday night — and reveal its secret so as to silence his critics.

Animal rights activists cried foul over the stunt, saying Fu had likely fed the fish magnets — or implanted them in the fish — so they could be dragged around their tank from underneath.

They said the trick amounted to animal cruelty…

Fu has so far refused to reveal the secret.

"My fish," he wrote on his microblog, are "living happily".