New Hampshire officials are blaming a teddy bear for the deaths of 2,500 trout.

The stuffed animal clogged a drain after it was dropped into a pool at a Fish and Game Department hatchery.

The fish were suffocated because the clog blocked the flow of oxygen to the pool.

Hatcheries supervisor Robert Fawcett believes this is the first time a teddy bear has caused deaths at the facility.

He told The Associated Press, "We've had pipes get clogged, but it's usually with more naturally occurring things like a frog or even a dead muskrat... This one turned out to be a teddy bear and we don't know how it got there."

Fawcett has issued a warning saying: "RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into the fish hatchery water IS NOT PERMITTED."

Officials do not know who dropped the yellow raincoat-clad bear, but urged anyone who drops a stuffed animal into a hatchery pool to ask a worker to remove it.

Fawcett said, "They might save your teddy bear, and keep it from becoming a killer."

He added, "It's kind of a cute little teddy bear and people wouldn't think that a cute little teddy bear would be able to kill fish."