Overview

• The Minnesota Zoo is working with the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and the City of Edina to repurpose invasive goldfish captured from Lake Cornelia as animal feed.
• The watershed district says the arrangement is the first of its kind in Minnesota and operates under existing DNR permits.
• Crews previously removed large numbers of goldfish — including about 50,000 in 2023 — which were typically buried or sent to landfills before this pilot.
• Early feeding trials show mixed acceptance, with brown bears favoring carp, sea lions sampling goldfish, river otters trying goldfish and rusty crayfish, and some big cats rejecting the new items.
• Officials plan to evaluate the pilot after this season for safety, animal acceptance, and nutrition, with potential expansion to other zoos or wildlife centers if results are positive.