Native crayfish being moved to protect them from invaders
CONSERVATION experts have carried out the area’s first major translocation of white-clawed crayfish at Kedleston Park.
The endangered creatures have been moved to what is being described as an “ark” site in the county to keep them safe from the threats posed by non-native signal crayfish which have been found downstream at Markeaton Park.
Teams from the National Trust, The Woodland Trust, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust spent a day checking artificial refuge traps that were placed at strategic locations through the park’s lakes system at points where concentrated populations of whiteclawed crayfish exist, and performing health checks on the crayfish at Kedleston to ensure they were ready for the move.
The crayfish were then taken to a top-secret location owned by the Woodland Trust, where they are expected to stand a better chance of thriving.
Kath Stapley, project lead and living rivers officer at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Despite ongoing conservation efforts, sadly it is only matter of time before the signal crayfish downstream make their way into the lake systems at Kedleston and eventually wipe out this protected species in these lakes.
“The signal crayfish also threatens other species and will significantly reduce the biodiversity here. We therefore want to remove as many of the white-clawed crayfish as possible and take them to sites where this threat is much lower. “This is the first translocation we have undertaken here, but we hope to translocate more white-clawed crayfish from Kedleston each year, as long as it is safe to do so.
“This project has been a huge team effort and we are delighted to be working with our partners to protect white-clawed crayfish as part of our mission for nature’s recovery.”