Sewer officials are warning people not to release their unwanted fish into natural waterways, lest they become like the giant orange beast found roaming an Ohio lake.
Photos from the Cleveland Metroparks show the 3-pound monster of a goldfish pulled from a lake in suburban Cleveland this month. It was discovered by people relocating fish ahead of a dam inspection project at Twin Lakes in Parma.
The goldfish in question may have entered the lake as an everyday pet fish, but once it took hold, it grew in size and started competing with native species and destroying their natural habitat.
Officials from NE Ohio Regional Sewer took to Medium.com to deliver a word of warning to sympathetic parents who may be tempted to free their child’s fish.
“One fish’s freedom is another habitat’s problem,” reads the post on Medium. “Invasive species like goldfish can disrupt the habitat’s food chain or consume valuable nutrients upon which native species depend.”
