For several years, the lotuses in the Maizuru Park moat have been on the decline, and areas where the lotus flowers fail to even bloom have increased. The Kyushu Environmental Evaluation Association, a Higashi-ku-based research organization, investigated the situation and discovered the culprit behind the languishing lotuses: turtles. The turtles chew up new shoots, leaving the lotus unable to grow leaves on the surface of the water. There are five moats in Maizuru Park, and residents began calling the City to report problems with the lotuses in 2009. By 2010, lotuses had stopped blooming in the eastern end of Moat 3, and by 2011 the entire length of Moat 5 was no longer able to sustain the plants. The City hired the Kyushu Environmental Evaluation Association to survey the moats, and it began an experiment that entailed installing a net in the middle of Moat 5. In the section where turtles could not enter, the lotuses bloomed normally. In particular, the damage seems to be caused by the red-eared slider, an invasive species of turtle native to the Mississippi River in the United States. Often sold as “green turtles” in pet stores, it appears that some owners may have left their turtles loose in the moats. Fukuoka City, who administers the park, said it will come up with a list of measures to preserve the lotus before year’s end. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 9/7
