The  European freshwater crayfish in the Netherlands is under threat but ways are being found to save the species, including crowdfunding, writes news agency ANP.

At present a pond on the Groot Warnsborn estate in Arnhem is home to the last surviving European crayfish in the Netherlands.

Heritage organisation Geldersch Landschap en Kastelen (GLK), which is managing the estate, has joined forces with Wageningen University’s research department Alterra to devise ways of saving the species.

European freshwater crayfish numbers declined sharply with the arrival of the fast-breeding American crayfish in the fifties which also introduced a fungal disease deadly to the European species. Pollution also contributed to the declining numbers.

Alterra is proposing to clean the pond at Groot Warnsborn and introduce more plants on its banks so the crayfish will have a place to hide. It has also found ten suitable breeding grounds for the crayfish. GLK is going to start introducing the species in five places to start with, among which the pond at Kasteel Rozendaal.

The plan to save the crayfish will cost €7,500 and the money will be raised by crowdfunding, ANP said.