Featured image credit: Murdoch University
You'd think releasing a goldfish back into the wild would be a good thing. Surely it's better to be out there than stuck in a little bowl for its whole life?
Well, you'd be wrong, because it's actually really bad for local wildlife and the ecosystem, research has shown. When goldfish are released into the wild, they can grow massively.
Look at the size of this:
Credit: Murdoch University
Researchers from the Centre of Fish and Fisheries at Murdoch University have been studying the effects of these giant goldfish on the environment as well as trying to keep the population under control.
Stephen Beatty, one of the researches behind the study, told Mashable that people releasing their unwanted pets has caused a lot of harm, with a huge rise in the number of the aquarium species being found in the Vasse River, Western Australia, in the last 15 years.
The researchers found that in the wild goldfish can grow to giant sizes. One was found that weighed 1.9 kilograms and they can also travel incredible distances - up to 230 kilometres in a year.
The team catch the fish with nets and traps to keep them from disturbing environments, eating other fish eggs and generally being pests. I'm not sure what they do with them once they've caught them, because, let's face it, you're not getting that back in a bowl are you?
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Words Claire Reid
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