The Minnesota Zoo is getting creative with feeding its bears and animals. It's resorting to feeding them unwanted pet goldfish. Partnering with the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and the City of Edina, the zoo is looking to combat invasive goldfish.
The pet golfish were abandoned in Lake Cornelia and have become a public nuisance. Well, now, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune, the city has found a new way to stop the invasive species and feed the zoo's animals.
Goldfish Problem
"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.
"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 also said.
The partnership sounds like it is benefiting everyone but the goldfish of course.
"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 also said.
