In the latest of such incidents at Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn, New York, a mysterious stranger released exotic wildlife there, then walked away.
According to HuffPost, a witness said he saw a man dragging two large bags to the shoreline, of what appeared to be wriggling snakes.
The man dumped bags of live eels into the water.
Officials identified them as swamp eels native to Southeast Asia, which have been found in at least eight states.
New Yorkers free thousands of non-native animals every year.
Most die quickly, but some survive, reproduce and end up causing lasting harm.
People like animals and they sometimes think they’re doing a good thing by letting them go.
Most will die.
Some will become a problem, and then there’s no going back.
Jason Munshi-South, Urban Ecologist Fordham University.
New York state and city officials say it’s too soon to know how the eels in Prospect Park might affect local species.
Eels can become voracious eaters, though.