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The Minnesota Zoo said it has partnered with a local watershed district in Minnesota to find a use for the invasive goldfish, most of which are relatives of dumped former pets, clogging Lake Cornelia
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The goldfish population in the lake has grown over the past few years, causing murky waters and algae blooms
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Instead of being discarded, the goldfish are sent to the zoo to help feed animals like bears, sea lions, and otters
The Minnesota Zoo is doing its part to help the environment — and vary the diets of its animals.
The park has formed a partnership with the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and the City of Edina to explore a new use for the invasive goldfish clogging Lake Cornelia. The fish are the relatives of the pet goldfish abandoned in the lake. Over the years, the dumped goldfish have bred, crowding the lake, damaging the natural ecosystem, and putting native species at risk, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
For years, Edina and the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District had been removing thousands of fish from Lake Cornelia — 50,000 goldfish in 2023 — and hauling them away to farm fields, where they were dumped and buried, The new partnership allows the watershed district to send goldfish pulled from Lake Cornelia to the Minnesota Zoo to be fed to animals like bears, sea lions and otters.
“Zoos have historically over-relied on a very small number of fish species,” Kelly Kappen, a nutritionist at the Minnesota Zoo, told the Star Tribune. “Using local invasive species helps buffer us and gives animals more variety.”
Kappen noted to the outlet that the partnership helps cut down on waste as the zoo had been “purchasing fish harvested intentionally for food” while Nine Mile Creek Watershed District workers were “composting perfectly edible fish.”
Minnesota Zoo
A Minnesota Zoo tech with collected invasive goldfish
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“The Minnesota Zoo is collaborating with partner organizations to source invasive species of goldfish and carp as a sustainable and enriching food option for our piscivores, or fish-eating animals. We are working with a limited number of partners to ensure safe food handling, and inclusion in animal diets is carefully evaluated as part of a well-balanced and individualized diet plan,” Kappen added in a statement to PEOPLE.
Minnesota Zoo
A brown bear at the Minnesota Zoo
The partnership benefits the residents in Edina, both animal, and human, too. The invasive goldfish are bottom feeders, which means they often kick up sediment found at the bottom of lakes, making the water murky and fueling algae blooms. The algae blooms negatively affect the space and food available to native fish species, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune. With fewer goldfish in the water, Lake Cornelia is clearer.
Brown bears enjoying goldfish pulled from Lake Cornelia
Not all of the animals at the Minnesota Zoo are excited about the new menu addition. Kappen said that when the zoo started introducing the goldfish into its resident animals’ diets, several species, like the tigers and leopards, made it clear they weren’t interested.
“Many animals are suspicious of new foods, so repeated introductions are often necessary for these new options to be consumed. So far, brown bears are loving the carp, sea lions are tentatively enjoying the goldfish, and North American river otters have sampled goldfish and rusty crayfish. This is our first year piloting these alternative fish options, and we’re still learning what works best,” Kappen shared in her statement to PEOPLE.
Read the original article on People
