Fisheries Lecturer Chris Sturdy recently
took the long drive to Bristol Zoo to investigate their population of
white-clawed crayfish, the UK’s only native species of crayfish.
This species
was classified as globally endangered in 2010, with the risk of becoming extinct
in the UK in the next 20-30 years. Population decline is due to their
susceptibility to crayfish plague (caused by the fungus Aphanomyces astaci)
and to competition from the signal crayfish which are also carriers of the
plague.
Bristol Zoo have been pioneering
a captive breeding programme to breed and release white-claws into designated
Ark sites. Moulton College will be taking on the whole of Bristol Zoo’s 2012
captive bred population to continue the programme and to conduct research on
improving animal husbandry and breeding success.
We hope to work with Bristol
Zoo, Bristol Conservation & Science Foundation, the South West Crayfish
Partnership, and the Environment Agency to successfully breed and release our
only native crayfish.
More on this soon!
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