An endangered species of shark believed to have been responsible for successive attacks on tourists at the Sharm el-Sheikh resort has been killed by Egyptian officials.
The oceanic whitetip shark was killed near the Egyptian Red Sea resort after four Russian tourists were injured in separate attacks, all believed to have been carried out by the same shark.
The killed shark was to be dissected to check for any human remains inside.
Two Russians reportedly lost limbs in the most recent attack while swimming in the Ras Nasrani area.
Earlier in the week a Russian couple were attacked swimming near the same beach forcing all water sports to be suspended in the area.
The whitetip shark is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as an endangered species. It is also not known to attack humans.
Shark advocate Thomas Hopkins said:“We have seen in the past few years massive troubles with more sharks coming closer to the shores in Egypt,” he said.
“What is happening is that a lot of the marine life and fish sharks used to eat have migrated away from areas and sharks are resorting to the next best catch around and that is human flesh.”
Hopkins also suggested that killing the sharks would do little to solve the problem. “Egypt needs to reassess its environmental policy in the Red Sea in order to buttress areas where marine life is dwindling in order to keep the big animals away from the shore,” he said.
