Earlier this month, officials from the Wildlife Commission, along with wildlife agencies across the country, began warning consumers that contaminated moss balls had been shipped to retailers across the country. Locally, moss balls purchased at a PetSmart in Burlington labeled 'Marimo Moss Ball Plant Grab & Go' and 'Mini Marimo Moss Balls’ were confirmed to have zebra mussels inside, but contaminated moss balls may have been sold under many different brand names. It’s believed that the contaminated moss balls were imported overseas to four large distributors in the United States that then shipped the product to pet stores nationwide.
Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have put processes in place to inspect incoming shipments of moss balls, and the Wildlife Commission will continue to work with state and federal agencies to monitor the situation in North Carolina. Visit the agency’s website to learn more about aquatic nuisance species.
Categories: Alerts, Home, News, Wildlife Health