Mr Haubrock, we meet you in Gelnhausen in East Hesse, where you work and conduct research for the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung.

Is it true that you and your two daughters discovered the North American signal crab here in Kinzig, your home town?

Kim Maurus

volunteer.

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I didn't discover him.

I just know the types and then show them to my daughters.

But my kids don't care that much.

For example, they see a Egyptian goose, also an invasive species, and say: Oh, that is beautiful.

Above all, they calculate the costs incurred by invasive species in Germany and around the world – hundreds of billions of euros.

Do people realize what invasive species can do?

I think that goes unnoticed by many, especially in Germany.

We're doing well economically, but in poorer regions it's a bigger deal.

For example, in some African countries, people bring in crayfish because they have some yield and are a cheap source of protein.

After a short time, however, these crabs can displace native species that people then lack.

It's always about: Do you notice the damage and how do you weight it?

We in Germany have a different relationship to nature.

We look to the beauty rather than the utility of such animals.

When is a species considered invasive?

That's where the spirits divide.

Some say an invasive species is a human-introduced alien species that is "just" spreading.

Others say it must do harm first.

But once a species is there, it has an effect.

The black-mouthed goby in the Rhine, for example, is harmful because it eats certain species, but it is also eaten by zander.

The zander population is growing excessively as a result.

Just looking at the spread of the species is short-sighted.

Just looking at the damage too.

In Florence, for example, there are almost exclusively non-native eels, but they cannot spread there because of the dams.

Locally, these species are invasive, but not in Italy.

I'm generally against the importation of non-native species, I'm a hardliner,

to avoid potential damage.

Anything that doesn't belong here shouldn't crawl around or fly around here.

Southern Germany is currently busy with the Californian chain snake, which has already displaced reptiles in the Canary Islands.

As for the chain snake, I can't say whether it will survive the winter.

Single individuals do not constitute an invasion.

You have to be careful and not stir up any fears.

In principle, however, a broad understanding in society would be desirable.

Individual people release exotic animals, for example, because the electricity costs for the terrarium are too high or because the animal is suddenly on a list.

The knowledge is missing: What do I do with such an animal?

Which invasive species in Germany are particularly dangerous?