Plan to save British crayfish
July 21st, 2009 | by Nick |
A £210,000 breeding programme has been started to save Britain’s rare native white-clawed crayfish. The species (Austropotamobius pallipes) is in danger of being wiped out by invasive American signal crayfish, which carry a disease, crayfish plague, which is fatal to the British species. The crayfish are being bred at secret locations in the south-west of England. American crayfish were introduced in the UK twenty years ago for farming. This has since led to the disappearance of almost 95% of the native species, which faces extinction from UK waters within 30 years unless new populations can be created in safe, uncontaminated waters. The Guardian
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