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.”