Someone dumped a few pet goldfish into a Colorado lake and now there are 4,000 ruining the ecosystem

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Colorado Park and Wildlife

The goldfish-infested waters of Lake Teller near Boulder, Colorado.

Colorado park and wildlife officials are dealing with an infestation of approximately 4,000 goldfish in a Boulder lake.

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The goldfish invasion at Teller lake is believed to originate from someone dumping at least four to five pet goldfish in the water two years ago.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife

The goldfish-infested waters of Lake Teller near Boulder, Colorado.

Since the goldfish are a non-native species to Colorado, park officials are concerned that these fragile harmless fish will threaten the area's natural aquatic ecosystem.

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Screen grab KMGH

A goldfish in Teller lake.

"It's a bad thing, it's a really bad thing ... they'll start eating up everything that the native fish, and the amphibians, and the birds are here to eat and so that can have a really negative effect down the road and this can kill this fishery in a few years," Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Jennifer Churchill told Fox 31 News.

According to Churchill there are two options, either drain the entire 12-acre lake and rebuild the fish population or temporarily electroshock the fish and capture them while they are paralyzed.

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