Predator Fishes Being Removed From Vedanthangal Lake In Chennai

The forest department has taken up the removal of cat fish and tank cleaner fish in Vedanthangal lake which are eating all the fingerlings scattered in the lake. 

Such fish, which dries up food for the birds visiting the sanctuary, is an existential crisis for Vedanthangal itself since birds will not come to the lake if there is no prey for them and their young ones. 

Since the lake is dry, the cleaning process for the forest department can be completed in a few weeks before the onset of the North-east monsoon which brings rains for the district. The lake was not desilted for the last 10 years and the dangerous species which clean up fingerlings



have increased in number.

The Vedanthangal lake spans 86 acres with a depth of 16 feet. The workers scatter fingerlings on the lake as prey for the birds. Most of the birds come to the lake to lay eggs and they need prey to feed the young ones. At present, the depth of the lake was only 12 feet after the rains and the water had dried up this summer. 

The forest department carried out a thorough examination of the lakes and found that the number of cat fish and tank cleaning fish which eat all the fingerlings and larva have gone up. They are dangerous since they will eat all other fish in the lake also and they will be the only species left in the lake.