Minnesota Zoo Is Feeding Bears People’s Unwanted Pet Goldfish

Lake Cornelia has a goldfish problem, and the Minnesota zoo has a hungry bear problem. With a little mutual aid, both their problems have become much smaller.

Stop Dumping Pets: When people find that their goldfish have become too much of a hassle, they will often dump them somewhere. Flushing them down the toilet seems a little too barbaric, so instead, they take them to a lake. However, the unassuming goldfish is an invasive species.

• Lake Cornelia in Minnesota has become overrun with goldfish. People have dumped so many in there that they are threatening the local ecosystem. It’s been the task of the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and the City of Edina to do something about it.
• In 2023, they removed a total of 50,000 goldfish from the lake. They are a hazard to the delicate ecosystem in the water and have to be disposed of.
• Typically, the fish would be taken to local agricultural farms and dumped on the land. They would eventually compost and feed the soil.

However, the Minnesota Zoo has come forward and suggested feeding the goldfish to their bears.

Fish Food

The zoo’s response: The bears had previously been fed on fish bred for feeding, which was a large expense for the zoo. When they heard about the tons of goldfish going to waste, they came forward to offer a solution.

• “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,” the nutritionist at the zoo said.

Now, instead of dumping the thousands of invasive goldfish on farmland, they can be used to feed bears and other fish-eating zoo animals. It’s a benefit to the lake also. With the removal of the thousands of golsfish, the water is clearing, and the ecosystem is returning to normal.

However, those bears are going ot have to eat a ton of goldfish over the coming months.