A tiny Tasmanian burrowing crayfish has gone from being thought extinct to hitting the international film stage!

The short-tailed rain crayfish (Ombrastacoides parvicaudatus) was first documented during surveys of the King River Valley in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with no sightings for decades, it was considered to be critically endangered or even extinct.

In late 2020, this true survivor was rediscovered through new field survey work on the West Coast. Environmental Consulting Options Tasmania (ECOtas) were joined in the field by Hydro Tasmania’s engineering consultancy Entura and found the species at a range of sites around Lake Burbury.

This remarkable story of survival was turned into a short documentary film by EcoTas and Dr Niall Doran of the Bookend Trust. It was aptly called “Survivors”. The documentary showcases the dedication, hard work and sheer physical effort that goes into environmental surveys and the inspiring story of the crayfish’s determination to live and thrive.

When Jackson Wild (one of the biggest natural history festivals going) came knocking ahead of its World Wildlife Showcase to celebrate the UN’s World Wildlife Day in June last year, “Survivors” was selected as the only Australian film in the collection.

But that wasn’t the end of the international recognition, Survivors was then selected as a finalist for a Panda Award which is essentially the environmental equivalent of an Oscar nomination.

ECOtas’ Associate Professor Alastair Richardson explains that the Panda Awards are the highest international honours for natural history TV and film, with only three films globally are nominated per category by the judges every 2 years from 700+ submissions across 38 countries. Tassie’s crayfish documentary was up against the BBC Studies Natural History Unit and Netflix!

Drum roll please…

While the award went to the BBC, Professor Richardson and Dr Doran expressed their delight at the exceptional international recognition of Survivors.

“This documentary was filmed in the field in harsh conditions. We never dreamed it would get such incredible traction in the film industry. It’s testimony to the strength of the story and how inspiring these tiny Tasmanian crayfish are,” Professor Richardson said.

Dr Doran was in the UK for the awards ceremony last week and said that he was “blown away” by the outcome and the recognition that has been brought to environmental monitoring, how we care for our ecosystems and the celebration of Tasmania’s unique fauna.

Find out a little more about the short-tailed rain crayfish here.

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