WAWAYANDA, N.Y., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Wildlife officials in New York ordered fish kills in Orange County to prevent the spread of invasive northern snakeheads.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation said the fish, which can breathe air and slither across land, grow to two or three feet in length and have the potential to wipe out competing fish populations, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Officials used a pesticide to kill every fish in Ridgebury Lake and along a two and half mile stretch of Catlin Creek in an attempt to stop the spread of the snakeheads in the Wallkill and Hudson rivers.
The pesticide, which is derived from tropical plants, prevents fish from obtaining oxygen. The poison breaks down completely in a couple days, the newspaper said. The water will be restocked with bass, crappie, yellow perch and sunfish.
