Endangered White-clawed Crayfish successfully relocated in ground breaking conservation effort - Buglife

The Midlands Crayfish Partnership has announced the successful relocation of rescued White-clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) to a protected site in Staffordshire, marking a significant milestone in efforts to save the UK’s only native crayfish species from extinction.

The crayfish, which had been in the expert care of the National Sea Life Centre Birmingham since June 2024, were released into a specially designated “ark site” – a remote upland stream free from invasive species – where they will be closely monitored with the aim of establishing a self-sustaining breeding population.

“What began as a small-scale collection mission turned into an incredible rescue operation for one of the UK’s most threatened native species,” said Liz Oldring, Crayfish Conservation Officer for Buglife and the Midlands Crayfish Partnership. “We’re incredibly proud of the outcome, and of the strong partnerships that made it possible.”

Rescue Mission Becomes Race Against Time

The relocation effort began in June 2024 when conservationists set out to collect just twelve berried females (females carrying eggs) from a lake in Derbyshire. The team instead discovered nearly two hundred individuals – an unexpectedly large population. However, the excitement quickly turned to urgency when they also found three American Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus), an invasive non-native species in the UK, that has devastated populations of our nature crayfish.

American Signal Crayfish not only outcompete and prey on native crayfish but also carry crayfish plague, a disease deadly to White-clawed Crayfish that can destroy an entire population within a few short weeks.