Protect the Non-Native Species

By: Sandra Stoner

The other day, Friday, November 7th to be exact, the pond at the South End of Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago witnessed a tragedy. All of the fish that had been living in it went belly-side up. Daytime strollers and joggers viewed hundreds of fish floating in the pond and many quickly alerted authorities that something was fishy (forgive the pun).

Authorities though were well aware of the situation. In fact, it was they who had caused it. On Thursday, the day before, Zoo officials had poured Rotenone, a deadly poison that kills fish, into the pond’s water. Rotenone prevents oxygen from reaching fish’s lungs, thus ultimately suffocating fish in their own living space.

Thus, zoo officials, who based on their job description work towards protecting and caring for animals, willingly wiped out the species living in the South Pond.

Why would they do this? Well, there is a $12 million dollar restoration project taking place that is to be completed in 2010 and the fish that were living in the Pond as of last week were apparently not considered to be part of the future.

Instead, officials want to turn the pond into “a model Illinois freshwater habitat.” This means eradicating the animals that live in the habitat and replacing them with natural species.

Natural habitats are all the rage right now. We as a society are very angry at non-native species, also known as invasive species. It is true that once introduced into another environment some of these plants and animals have taken over the habitat by killing the original inhabitants, but most of these introductions have been caused or premeditated by humans.

The fish in the South Pond of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago were mostly there because of humans. There were goldfish and Koi that pet owners had released into the wild. There were also black crappies and largemouth bass that are not considered to be natural to Illinois habitat but found their way to the Pond nonetheless.

Even more striking for this particular erasure of “non-native” species is the fact that the South Pond in the Lincoln Park Zoo was man-made. It was created in 1865 to beautify the lakeshore.

It’s a shame that we are so focused on restoring nature to its original context that we don’t mind killing the types of fish that have occupied the Pond for over 140 years.

What can you do to help stop situations like this from happening again? I believe that prevention is the key. More focus needs to be aimed at making sure non-native species are not introduced to new environments by humans. Check out the following websites for some ideas; it’s important to become aware of the non-native species (or potential for them) in your area so that you will be able to preserve your environment and prevent the mass-murdering of non-invasive species in the future!

http://www.muni.org/salmoninthecity/invasive.cfm
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/40.html
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/council/actionb.shtml