Vancouver residents have begun to declare themselves sa国际传媒淭eam Ottersa国际传媒� or sa国际传媒淭eam Koisa国际传媒� as an elusive otter feasting on expensive fish in a tranquil garden pond continues to evade capture.
The otter mysteriously made its way to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden last week and has gobbled up seven decorative koi, many of which have been there for decades.
A wildlife relocation expert and set three new traps containing rainbow trout and an oil mixture, but staff are still waiting for the critter to jump into them, the citysa国际传媒檚 parks director said Saturday.
Itsa国际传媒檚 hard to say whether the otter has found the traps or shown any interest in them, Howard Normann said.
sa国际传媒淣ot enough to get into them, thatsa国际传媒檚 for sure.sa国际传媒�
Garden staff were discussing options Saturday to remove the koi from the pond to keep them safe, but Normann said itsa国际传媒檚 not as easy as it sounds.
sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e sensitive fish. Itsa国际传媒檚 pretty tricky to do,sa国际传媒� he said.
He declined to share the wildlife relocationsa国际传媒檚 expertsa国际传媒檚 name or where hesa国际传媒檚 from but Normann said staff are confident in his abilities.
sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 an experienced otter trapper, so thatsa国际传媒檚 about as confident as we can get,sa国际传媒� he said.
Itsa国际传媒檚 still unclear how the otter found the garden, which is surrounded by busy streets, but a resident recently contacted Normann to report the critter may have been living in a nearby park between the Sun Yat-Sen garden and False Creek.
The garden has remained closed since the otter set up shop and once itsa国际传媒檚 captured the plan is to relocate it to the Fraser Valley.
In the meantime, the story has captivated people in Vancouver and beyond, with social media users joining #TeamOtter or #TeamKoi.
sa国际传媒淭his is bad for the otter, so removing him is in everyonesa国际传媒檚 best interest,sa国际传媒� one #TeamKoi member said.
Local non-profit group Chinatown Today has even made a batch of buttons bearing adorable cartoon otters and koi and is selling the buttons for $2 each
Initially, the group planned to donate all proceeds to the classical garden, but founder Louis Lapprend said the garden has asked that the money be given to a wildlife refuge instead.
Lapprend said people appear to be fascinated by the story in part because itsa国际传媒檚 a battle of wits similar to a Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon, in which the coyote can never quite catch his prey despite trying increasingly ridiculous schemes.
sa国际传媒淚 think theresa国际传媒檚 a comedy aspect to it, because every day the park board staff will set up new traps and every morning, they have to publicly announce the otter visited the traps, ate all the bait, and didnsa国际传媒檛 trigger anything,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淥n a more philosophical level, I think itsa国际传媒檚 about the way that we live in a big city, we try to control the environment, and suddenly something completely unpredictable happens and itsa国际传媒檚 nature intruding. I think it does something to our brains. It triggers a reaction which is fascinating.sa国际传媒�
Laura Kane, The Canadian Press
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