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The Living World

Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.

Intimate encounters and extraordinary observations of wild nature in Britain and beyond.

Living World: Crayfish

04/12/2016

Crayfish

BBC Radio 4 - Living World, Crayfish

Lionel Kelleway is by a Cotswold river on the lookout for native crayfish.

Chris Packham relives programmes from the Living World archives. In this programme recorded in 2000, Lionel Kelleway is by a Cotswold river on the lookout for native crayfish.

Chris Packham relives programmes from The Living World archives.

In Medieval England, so abundant was the native white clawed crayfish that following the end of Lent Fasting at Easter monks and nuns would feast on this delicacy. However as Lionel Kelleway discovers in this programme from 2000 with a rapidly declining population even the chances of even finding a crayfish takes time and skill. The decline in our native crayfish is a result of a plague brought in by an alien species, the North American Signal crayfish and from our rivers and streams suffering from damage or reduced water quality. 

At the Bybrook river Lionel is joined by Martin Frayling from the Environment Agency on the edge of the Cotswolds. A river that is as perfect a place as any to begin their journey into the freshwater world of the white clawed crayfish.

Producer Andrew Dawes.

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