Finding Dory, Killing Dory: Your 'Dory' Might Have Been Poisoned With Cyanide

By Jhesset E

Jun 18, 2016 06:56 AM EDT

The long-awaited sequel to the hit film "Finding Nemo" was finally released on box office last week. With the animated film now focusing on the adorably forgetful blue tang fish, "Finding Dory" is set to make tropical fish popular again.

And this is where scientists and environmentalists begin to worry.

While such films increase awareness about the diversity of marine life, many people are also triggered to buy these wild fish to have as pets.

Similar to what happened after the success of the "Finding Nemo" film, the release of the new Pixar movie is seen to boost the demand for species of Dory and Nemo--clownfish and blue tang--for aquariums. The problem is these fish are usually caught from open seas using cyanide, according to recent research.

Craig Downs of the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory in Virginia said the popularity of "Finding Nemo" has resulted to more than a million clownfish caught from reefs, as per Phys.org.

Downs said one of the most common ways to capture these fish is through cyanide poisoning.

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Suspected poachers 'kill 14 elephants with cyanide' in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's wildlife agency investigates suspicious deaths of elephants in Hwange national park - which was home to Cecil the lion

By Our Foreign Staff

8:01PM BST 06 Oct 2015

Suspected poachers used cyanide to kill 14 elephants in Zimbabwe's western Hwange national park and in the north since Sept 26, the national wildlife agency said on Tuesday

Hwange, home of Zimbabwe's most famous lion Cecil who was killed by an American dentist in July, holds 53,000 elephants, twice the park's carrying capacity, the park's agency says.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Mamagement Authority spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo said six elephants were killed on Sept. 26 inside Hwange park and their tusks were removed.

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