Vancouver residents have begun to declare themselves 鈥淭eam Otter鈥� or 鈥淭eam Koi鈥� as an elusive otter feasting on expensive fish in a tranquil garden pond continues to evade capture.

The otter mysteriously made its way to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden last week and has gobbled up seven decorative koi, many of which have been there for decades.

A wildlife relocation expert and set three new traps containing rainbow trout and an oil mixture, but staff are still waiting for the critter to jump into them, the city鈥檚 parks director said Saturday.

It鈥檚 hard to say whether the otter has found the traps or shown any interest in them, Howard Normann said.

鈥淣ot enough to get into them, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�

Garden staff were discussing options Saturday to remove the koi from the pond to keep them safe, but Normann said it鈥檚 not as easy as it sounds.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e sensitive fish. It鈥檚 pretty tricky to do,鈥� he said.

He declined to share the wildlife relocation鈥檚 expert鈥檚 name or where he鈥檚 from but Normann said staff are confident in his abilities.

鈥淗e鈥檚 an experienced otter trapper, so that鈥檚 about as confident as we can get,鈥� he said.

It鈥檚 still unclear how the otter found the garden, which is surrounded by busy streets, but a resident recently contacted Normann to report the critter may have been living in a nearby park between the Sun Yat-Sen garden and False Creek.

The garden has remained closed since the otter set up shop and once it鈥檚 captured the plan is to relocate it to the Fraser Valley.

In the meantime, the story has captivated people in Vancouver and beyond, with social media users joining #TeamOtter or #TeamKoi.

鈥淭his is bad for the otter, so removing him is in everyone鈥檚 best interest,鈥� one #TeamKoi member said.

Local non-profit group Chinatown Today has even made a batch of buttons bearing adorable cartoon otters and koi and is selling the buttons for $2 each

Initially, the group planned to donate all proceeds to the classical garden, but founder Louis Lapprend said the garden has asked that the money be given to a wildlife refuge instead.

Lapprend said people appear to be fascinated by the story in part because it鈥檚 a battle of wits similar to a Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon, in which the coyote can never quite catch his prey despite trying increasingly ridiculous schemes.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a comedy aspect to it, because every day the park board staff will set up new traps and every morning, they have to publicly announce the otter visited the traps, ate all the bait, and didn鈥檛 trigger anything,鈥� he said.

鈥淥n a more philosophical level, I think it鈥檚 about the way that we live in a big city, we try to control the environment, and suddenly something completely unpredictable happens and it鈥檚 nature intruding. I think it does something to our brains. It triggers a reaction which is fascinating.鈥�

Laura Kane, The Canadian Press

Like us on and follow us on