Zoo may have to quarantine endangered crayfish

The Environment Agency said it had ruled out crayfish plague as a cause of death

A zoo may have to quarantine white-clawed crayfish to prevent them dying from a mystery illness.

About 70 of the endangered crustaceans were found dead around the River Wansbeck in Northumberland earlier in the year, according to the Environment Agency (EA).

Northumberland Zoo curator Lucy Edwards said her team were getting ready to quarantine several of the female crayfish remaining in the county.

The EA, which has already ruled out pollution and crayfish plague as causes of death, said it was working with the zoo.

It is currently surveying the River Wansbeck catchment to determine the extent of the outbreak.

Ms Edwards said everyone at the zoo had been relieved when they discovered crayfish plague was not behind the deaths.

The disease was fatal to white-clawed crayfish, she said, of which Northumberland had a particularly large population.

But the lack of answers behind the deaths was troubling, she added.

"If we don't know what it is, we don't know how to solve the problem," she said.

'Rare and important'

The team is currently setting up more holding facilities in their crayfish hatchery so they can quarantine the endangered animals.

It is waiting until November, when the female crayfish will have reproduced and be carrying eggs.

"That's going to be our main role at the zoo, taking these animals and just trying to keep them alive," Ms Edwards said.

The crustaceans are "keystone" species, she said, adding: "If you lose that species, the whole ecosystem can collapse. People don't realise how rare and important they are."