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Piranha Problem
Wildlife Officials Apply Poison To Pond Where South American Fish Were Discovered
November 18, 2009|By Brian Haas Staff Writer
They're a staple of B-movies, relentless aquatic killers, swarming hapless victims and stripping the flesh from their bones.
They are the South American piranha. And they've come to Palm Beach County.
Jake Duchene, 15, hooked a red-bellied piranha about three weeks ago in a retention pond near his Palm Springs townhome. Since then, state wildlife officials have found two more, and on Tuesday poisoned the whole lake to get rid of any straggling piranhas.
Jake Duchene, who found the first one, went from elated to deflated as he watched officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission pump rotenone into the pond, killing everything in it.
"My son is beside himself," said his father, Darren Duchene, 47. "I think it's ridiculous to poison the whole lake."
Real piranhas are a far cry from their celluloid portrayal, but extremely destructive in a non-native habitat like South Florida, said William Fink, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan.
"That's the reason they're illegal," he said, referring to a Florida law banning piranhas. "They will get loose and they can potentially breed."
Fink said piranhas can easily take over habitats. He's never heard of a single case of a piranha killing a human, but they will attack birds, other fish and even larger animals.
Fink said piranhas are popular pets because of their unearned reputations as man-eaters. But upkeep can be expensive and feeding them - they'll often only eat live meals - can be a pain, Fink said.
"People can't afford to keep them fed or they get sick of them and they dump them in a pond," he said.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...red-bellied-piranha-nattereri-piranha-problem
Wildlife Officials Apply Poison To Pond Where South American Fish Were Discovered
November 18, 2009|By Brian Haas Staff Writer
They're a staple of B-movies, relentless aquatic killers, swarming hapless victims and stripping the flesh from their bones.
They are the South American piranha. And they've come to Palm Beach County.
Jake Duchene, 15, hooked a red-bellied piranha about three weeks ago in a retention pond near his Palm Springs townhome. Since then, state wildlife officials have found two more, and on Tuesday poisoned the whole lake to get rid of any straggling piranhas.
Jake Duchene, who found the first one, went from elated to deflated as he watched officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission pump rotenone into the pond, killing everything in it.
"My son is beside himself," said his father, Darren Duchene, 47. "I think it's ridiculous to poison the whole lake."
Real piranhas are a far cry from their celluloid portrayal, but extremely destructive in a non-native habitat like South Florida, said William Fink, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan.
"That's the reason they're illegal," he said, referring to a Florida law banning piranhas. "They will get loose and they can potentially breed."
Fink said piranhas can easily take over habitats. He's never heard of a single case of a piranha killing a human, but they will attack birds, other fish and even larger animals.
Fink said piranhas are popular pets because of their unearned reputations as man-eaters. But upkeep can be expensive and feeding them - they'll often only eat live meals - can be a pain, Fink said.
"People can't afford to keep them fed or they get sick of them and they dump them in a pond," he said.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...red-bellied-piranha-nattereri-piranha-problem
