Threatened crayfish rescued from claws of invasive species
A threatened species of crayfish is making a comeback in Lincolnshire after the Environment Agency (EA) and conservation groups relocated them away from their invasive non-native predators.
Native white-clawed crayfish – the country’s largest freshwater crustaceans – have been in decline since non-native American signal crayfish escaped into UK waters in the 1970s. The larger, invasive crayfish outcompete native species for food and habitat and carry a disease fatal to the UK species.