Earlier this month, alert park visitors at Giant Springs State Park noticed two goldfish illegally swimming in one of the streams.

They realized that these fish were not native to the area and immediately alerted the park authorities, who were able to remove both fish and give them a safe new home.

While you may think it's a good idea to release your aquatic pet into the wild, it often means a painful death for the animal and disruption to the local ecosystem. Goldfish are part of the carp family, are not native to Montana, and have not adapted to the environment. They are unlikely to survive long.

Dave Hagengruber, communications and education program manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 4, explained, “It's pretty cruel. I mean, they're going to starve or freeze to death in the winter when the pond freezes over.”

If the fish survive, Hagengruber says, “they're going to have to compete with the native minnows and the native fish that are here for food, habitat and all those things. So they could displace some of those species.”

The problem does not only affect goldfish. Sometimes pet owners release their turtles, frogs and snakes into the wild, even though these animals are not adapted to life there and either die or outcompete the native wildlife.

Snapping turtles, for example, are not native to Montana west of the Continental Divide and are often released into bodies of water as unwanted pets, harming smaller, native turtle populations and other pond-dwelling species.

Hagengruber says, “Bullfrogs are a common species. Bullfrogs eat the native frogs. They get so much bigger that they can easily displace and eat them. For all these reasons, it's just not a good idea to release pets into the wild. That's not where they belong.”

If you can no longer care for your aquatic pet, the best option is to rehome it. There are several ways to rehome it. Click here for more information.