Endangered alpine spiny crayfish return home after Victorian bushfire rescue

Two scientists travelled through fire-scarred bushland with the animals, which were salvaged in the immediate aftermath of the fires when they were at risk of suffocating in the stream from debris and sediment. The alpine spiny crayfish are restricted in their movement and found in small, isolated pockets, making them tricky for scientists to find and adding to the pressure of rescue efforts as water quality declines after a fire. “If they aren't rescued they can disappear from these areas,” Arthur Rylah Institute senior scientist Will Sowersby said.

The crayfish were taken to the Snobs Creek conservation hatchery near Eildon, run by the Victorian Fisheries Authority, where they were cared for until water quality improved. It is the first time the endangered species has been held in captivity. "It's a new process for us," Snobs Creek senior conservation hatchery officer Dylan White said. "They are a bit feisty so we have had to separate them, and we have kept them separate this whole time because they will attack each other."

The release comes as the High Country starts to spring back to life after the Walwa-River Road bushfire, which burnt around 121,000 hectares. Conservationists hope the crayfish can be included in a future captive breeding program at the hatchery to help bolster numbers and geographical diversity. With another summer on the horizon, Mr Sowersby predicted the work was far from over. "We know that bushfires are increasing in their frequency and their intensity, so we suspect it's going to be more and more important that we rescue species post-bushfire and that we also establish new populations to (prevent) the risk of an extinction event due to a catastrophic fire," he said.

The hatchery has been busy with conservation work, especially after natural disasters. It holds species found nowhere else in the world, including a type of galaxias fish that only exists in a sole tributary of the La Trobe River, and critically endangered blackfish rescued after bushfires in the Grampians. More than 100 Macquarie perch and trout cod taken from Seven Creek after the Longwood bushfire have already been re-released. “It was quite challenging to look after a large number of trout cod at the same time due to their aggressive nature …took up a lot of space,” Snobs Creek head of fish production Chris Mullins said.

"Every year (natural disasters) seems to be getting more and more, so we have got to have a facility here that we can take some of these species as quickly as we can," Mr White said. "If we weren't doing it no one would be."