Rare white-clawed crayfish saved from drying beck

Several crayfish had already died but the team managed to rescue 32 adults

A previously unknown population of critically endangered crayfish has been rescued from a drying watercourse in West Yorkshire.

Scott Davies, from Burley in Wharfedale, alerted the Environment Agency (EA) after spotting the native white-clawed crayfish struggling in a section of a nearby beck, affected by ongoing drought conditions.

A total of 32 adults, including 21 egg-carrying females, were successfully relocated to a licensed quarantine facility, where they will undergo health checks.

Mr Davies told the BBC: "I love the fact that they were saved and hopefully can be used to potentially introduce them into other areas where they would have been found before but have now been wiped out."

The crayfish were rescued by the EA's fisheries team by hand - a difficult job as the crustaceans often hide under rocks or bury into the banks.

The rescued crayfish have been moved to the EA's facility hosted by York Gate Gardens near Leeds, until they pass a health check.

The agency hopes to return them to their original habitat once water levels stabilise.

Scott Davies alerted the Environment Agency after spotting crayfish in distress

Periods of dry weather and low rivers can have serious consequences for the environment and wildlife, the agency said.

"Rivers that usually flow with water have become a disconnected series of pools, and those pools have become isolated then wildlife can't move as freely within the water as they are used to," said manager Martin Christmas.

"We've had two or three heat waves and that's meant that the water temperature is a lot warmer than it usually is and warm water doesn't dissolve oxygen as well as cooler water.

"So we've seen a number of examples where fish have got into trouble because there's a lack of oxygen in the water."

According to the EA, white-clawed crayfish are the UK's only native freshwater crayfish.

They play a vital role in keeping waterways clean and as a source of food for other native species.

The species used to be common across Yorkshire but is now critically endangered, largely due to being out-competed by the larger, more aggressive American signal crayfish.

Anyone who sees fish or wildlife in distress is asked to contact the agency.

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