The Texas Koi Carp Massacre

[Mulboyne]

[TennoChinko]

Hold on a minute ... they were Japanese fish, right?


How do we know they didn't commit mass suicide?

[Mulboyne]

Mercury News: More than 250 koi fish dead at San Jose's Japanese Friendship Garden

Jennie Larkin used to love watching orange and yellow ripple just beneath the surface at the upper and lower ponds at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose's Kelley Park. About the only thing rippling the water Tuesday was an assortment of ducks and geese lurching for kernels of food thrown one at a time by children and park regulars. Since April 11, all but 15 of the garden's 265 koi have died. Park officials suspect someone "donated" their own fish that were already infected with a fish version of herpes virus to the ponds. And officials are almost certain the cause of death is the koi herpes virus but won't know for sure until Friday when test results are expected back from the University of California-Davis. "People come in thinking they're doing a favor by putting fish in the ponds," said Mona Favorite-Hill, spokeswoman for San Jose's parks, recreation and neighborhood services. "We think someone introduced fish that already had been exposed."

The colorful orange, white and black fish were donated by San Jose's sister city Okayama, Japan, years ago. There are 150 fish in holding tanks, but only 50 of those are old enough and large enough to be placed in the ponds once the problem is identified and the ponds are cleaned. The fish do best if they're about 4 years old when placed in the ponds, Favorite-Hill said. When park officials contacted their counterparts in Okayama, "they immediately e-mailed back and said 'we think it's this,' " she said. The virus apparently has wiped out several collections of koi in Japan. Blood and tissue samples were taken from the dead fish and sent to UC-Davis for testing. Park officials fear the death count will continue.

[Bucky]