Do large native long fin eels attack humans?
Swimmers may occasionally get a gentle nip, but unprovoked bites are virtually unknown.
But earlier this week a huge eel latched onto a nine-year-old girl in a remote Wairarapa river.
She didn't see the eel, so, as an expert told us, people are assuming the thing that attacked her in the river was an eel.
Watch Whena Owen’s full report