A belligerent otter eating cherished koi carp in a famous Chinese garden in the Canadian city of Vancouver is evading capture since it appeared last weekend, with staff distraught over the loss of fish.

It remains unclear how the otter managed to break into the garden, officials at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden told the BBC. They are working with the city to safely capture the creature and relocate it.

Officials say the otter may have eaten seven of the garden's 14 fish since its appearance last weekend.

The pond and its koi are an important detail of the park and had cultural significance, said communications director Debbie Cheung.

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One of the fishes, named “Madonna,” is reportedly about 50 years old and has been in the garden for about two decades. “Some of [the koi] have been with us for a long, long time. We see them as part of the team,” she told the broadcaster.

The otter in the garden brought the attention of Vancouver residents, with both the supporters and the detractors of the otter coming to the garden to see the predator.

“I thought it was pretty badass and so I came to check it out,” Italian student Max Bottega told CBC, saying he’s “definitely team otter.”

But others weren’t so excited of an otter preying on precious koi carp. “They're cool fish,” a 9-year-old boy told the outlet, saying he’s sad about what the otter did. “They're my favorite type of fish.”

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The otter situation forced the officials to close the tourist attraction “to facilitate containment of the river otter.”

In a Friday statement announcing the closure, the garden said “seven of our adult koi have been killed. They are an integral part of the Garden family and our cultural heritage, and we do not take their loss lightly.”

The Vancouver Park director Howard Normann said a trap set up earlier this week failed after it got blocked by a tree branch, allowing the otter to eat the bait.

“The otter did take our tuna, did take our trout, did take our chicken,” he told the BBC.

Additional traps were set up so the otter could be caught and transported to “a really nice new home.”

The Chinese garden is reportedly the first of its kind built outside China.