For many it’s a first pet, a gift from family, something you won as a prize at a carnival, but for Canadian residents the familiar orange goldfish everyone knows and loves is becoming a serious problem. Some flush them in a hurry because they no longer want to take care of them, others commit them to a porcelain vortex because they believe their beloved fish has passed, and the Canadian Government is issuing a warning now to citizens of Canada to stop flushing their fish.
Just a few goldfish with the potential to disrupt an entire ecosystem
Goldfish are entering the ecosystem the way that a lot of invasive species end up in an environment they don’t belong, Humans are putting them there. Human interference is one of the leading causes of the beginning of over population of invading alien species. In this case many of the fish are going down drains, and ending up in Canada’s lakes and rivers. Experts fear that the population boom they have seen so far from the
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They have no natural predators in Alberta and will out-compete native species for resources (http://esrd.alberta.ca/recreation-public-use/invasive-species/fish.aspx).” Goldfish are a specific type of carp that was bred to be the bright orange color that it is 1000s of years ago in China to be used as display for their bright colors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_carp). Although they are related to carp species that are non-invasive, these goldfish being released threatens the stabilization of the many Canadian rivers and lakes. If the authorities aren’t able to stop the flourishing invasion of the friendly orange goldfish, they could be looking at a depletion of resources vast enough to cause harm t o the native animal and plant