Pond drained to remove thousands of invasive goldfish and koi

By Edward Dewulf-Peters and Faye Mayern via SWNS

A conservation pond on a historical nature reserve had to be drained to save the frogs and newts living there from being wiped out by dumped pet koi and goldfish.

Vinegar Pond, in Mousehold Heath, Norfolk was emptied to remove more than 6,000 goldfish and koi carp that had bred "out of control" in the waters on September 16.

Mousehold Heath dates back to the Tudor period and is home to a host of wildlife including dragonflies, birds and lizards.

Mating frogs gather around the pond in early spring but the abundance of fish meant they were nearly "wiped out".

Officials had attempted to stop the fish from "decimating" the other wildlife with 'electro-fishing' which stuns fish and allows them to be caught.

Gary Champion, Sewell ward councilor, said: "Unfortunately, as the expression goes, some fish kept slipping the net.

"We thought they would breed themselves into extinction but their numbers have grown instead.

"They had almost definitely been dumped. Somebody must have had fish they could no longer care for and thought releasing them into a pond was a humane way of dealing with it.

"Vinegar Pond used to be known for the sheer numbers of frog spawn but the koi crossbreed has nearly wiped them out - it had been frog central."

After the water was removed from the large pond, the fish were taken to another park where they would pose no threat to frogs and newts.

A Norwich City Council spokesperson said: "We request that residents and visitors do not add any fish to Vinegar Pond as this damages the ponds ecology and we lose important pond wildlife species.”