The resident koi that had to be removed from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden last fall will return home tomorrow.

Three adult and 344 juvenile koi were removed from the pond last November after a river otter got into the garden and, over several days, killed 11 of the mature koi including Madonna, the most famous of the garden’s residents, who was more than 50 years old and had lived in the garden’s pond for more than 20 years. Most of the adult koi had lived in the garden since it opened in 1986.

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The surviving fish were taken to Vancouver Aquarium for safekeeping.

Some juvenile koi have already returned to the pond, in addition to koi donated to the garden from Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC and a private collector.

The remaining koi will be returned to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Thursday morning.

Since last year’s incident, Vancouver Park Board staff have modified the garden’s entrance and exit points to deter any future otter visits.

@JessicaEKerr

jkerr@vancourier.com