2024-03-12 20:50:50
Published12. March 2024, 9:50 p.m.
Geneva: The Bioparc offers a “retreat” to fish for the Persian New Year
The Bellevue animal park has created a pond dedicated to golden crucian carp abandoned by their owners, notably the Persians, who use them in their traditions.
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Their scholarly name is golden crucian carp. But, they are commonly called “goldfish”. Although not bulky, this pet is sometimes too much for its owner. However, getting rid of it is not that simple. The law prohibits throwing it down the toilet. It is also not recommended to leave it in a pond, stream or lake. This predator indeed has a harmful impact on biodiversity (read box). This is why the Bioparc created a body of water dedicated to this cause in April 2023.
To celebrate the renewal of nature
On this Tuesday, March 12, in order to promote this infrastructure, those in charge of the animal park are joining forces with representatives of the communities who celebrate the Persian New Year, or Norooz, between March 20 and 22. Leyla Ahmari Taleghani, human rights (and now animal rights) activist, explains why: “For more than 3,000 years, at the spring equinox, we have celebrated the renewal of nature.”
Among the traditions: the Haft-Seen. On this table are seven objects starting with the letter “S” in Persian. “In the middle, we place a live goldfish, in a bowl of water. It symbolizes renewal, luck, prosperity. This is the central element,” she continues.
“They have the tradition, we have the solution!”
After fourteen days, the festival ends. “We go out into nature. And, we release the goldfish.” Note that Iranians are not the only ones to celebrate Norooz. “This is also the case in Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Albania, in part of Turkey,” explains Leyla Ahmari Taleghani. In Geneva, many members of these communities practice this ritual and find themselves faced with the difficulty of knowing what to do with the fish after the celebration.
Hence the idea of the Bioparc to collect golden crucian carp in this basin. “They have the tradition, we have the solution!” says Christina Meissner, vice-president of the Foundation Board. “Our goal is to raise awareness among this population in order to avoid an ecological disaster,” she underlines, indicating that the Bioparc is open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and that releasing your goldfish is free.
“Our message is really: don’t release your fish into the wild!” insists Gottlieb Dändliker, wildlife inspector in Geneva. “It’s not a native species. “It’s a predator that has no place in our water bodies.” What is the risk? “Thanks to its resistance and longevity (its life expectancy is 30 years), it can survive and reproduce,” explains the expert. However, this proves problematic for other species. Particularly because it eats the eggs and larvae of amphibians, such as newts, common frogs and agile frogs. Only those of the toad resist because they are poisoned. “Its presence also has an impact on dragonflies and other aquatic insects.”
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