Call for shell donations as Thailand's hermit crabs face housing crisis

BANGKOK, Nov 7 (AFP): Hermit crab numbers in southern Thailand have boomed as foreign tourists have stayed away -- so much so that the national park authority appealed on Friday for the public to donate extra shells for them to live in.

The population of the crustaceans -- which protect themselves by wearing and living inside the discarded shells of other animals -- has exploded on some islands in the Mu Koh Lanta National Park, and marine biologists believe the lack of tourists could be a factor.