KOI KILLER STILL ON THE LOOSE
Hungry otter continues to elude capture
VANCOUVER • An otter preying on koi in a unique downtown Vancouver garden has eaten at least three more of the fish and continues to evade efforts to trap and remove it.
Garden officials have ordered an evacuation of the remaining koi living in the ponds at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Chinatown after the otter claimed its 10th victim over the weekend.
There were previously 14 adults in the ponds.
Now staff at the Chinatown garden have begun evacuating koi from the ponds. On Saturday, crews moved in to begin rescue efforts.
So far, only one fish has been moved to the Vancouver Aquarium for safekeeping; koi are also difficult to capture so it remains unclear how long the evacuation will take though crews are working to relocate the remaining three fish. The one relocated koi took “several hours” to capture on Saturday, due to poor visibility in the water.
“It has been a difficult mission, trying to rescue our koi,” said Debbie Cheung, spokeswoman with the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
Cheung said it remains unknown whether Madonna, a 50-plus-year-old koi who had been at the garden for the past 20 years, is among the remaining survivors.
The evacuation comes after an expert trapper was brought in late last week in an attempt to relocate the otter. Officials had been hoping to avoid relocating the koi, as draining the pond and moving the fish could cause stress and possible damage.
But the otter was able to evade three traps containing rainbow trout and an oil mixture.
It’s hard to say whether the otter has found the traps or shown any interest in them, Howard Normann, the city’s parks director, said Saturday.
“Not enough to get into them, that’s for sure.”
It remains unclear exactly when and where the otter moved into the garden earlier this month though its den has been located at the east end of the garden. Both the garden and adjacent park remain closed to the public until the otter can be relocated to the Fraser Valley, where it will be able to feast on salmon.
Cheung said there are plans to announce a fundraiser this coming week, to help with the cost of replacing the devoured koi. The colourful carp can cost anywhere from $10 for a small, young koi, up to thousands of dollars for showgrade, senior koi.
Earlier this year, a koi carp fish was sold at auction in Japan by breeder Kentaro Sakai for 203 million Yen ($2.4 million CAD), setting a new record.
In the meantime, the story has captivated people in Vancouver and beyond, with social media users joining #TeamOtter or #TeamKoi.
“This is bad for the otter, so removing him is in everyone’s best interest,” one #TeamKoi member said.
Local non-profit group Chinatown Today has even made a batch of buttons bearing adorable cartoon otters and koi and is selling the buttons for $2 each.
Initially, the group planned to donate all proceeds to the classical garden, but founder Louis Lapprend said the garden has asked that the money be given to a wildlife refuge instead.
Lapprend said people appear to be fascinated by the story in part because it’s a battle of wits similar to a Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon, in which the coyote can never quite catch his prey despite trying increasingly ridiculous schemes.
“I think there’s a comedy aspect to it, because every day the park board staff will set up new traps and every morning, they have to publicly announce the otter visited the traps, ate all the bait, and didn’t trigger anything,” he said.
EVERY DAY THE PARK BOARD WILL SET UP NEW TRAPS.