ONE LAKE IN the US state of Colorado is facing a big problem due to a tiny household pet.
Someone decided to dump a handful of live goldfish in Teller Lake. They did what animals do and now there are as many as 4,000 resident in the lake.
Authorities are now looking to find the culprit, as the new species is causing havoc with the local ecosystem.
Jennifer Churchill, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman, told Fox News:
It’s a bad thing. It’s a really bad thing,
“They’ll start eating up everything that the native fish, the amphibians, and the birds are here to eat, and so that can have a really negative effect down the road. This can kill this fishery in a few years.”
The thousands of fish will now have to be removed with an electro-fishing boat, the local wildlife department said, and could end up in a raptor rehabilitation centre.
“Nonnative species can be devastating to native populations by causing disease outbreaks and creating competition unbalance. It’s an issue that anyone concerned with our environment should know about,” Ken Kehmeier, a senior aquatic biologist with the department, said.
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