Rare snails sent to French Polynesia to repopulate

By Lauren Beavis via SWNS

Thousands of extremely rare partula snails bred at Edinburgh Zoo are to be released in French Polynesia - to restore the wild population of the species.

The last surviving few of the species were rescued in the early 1990s by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and the Zoological Society of London as part of an international conservation program.

Before making the 15,000km journey, the group of 2,500 tiny nocturnal snails were individually marked by RZSS teams with a dot of yellow UV reflective paint which glows under UV torchlight.

This will help conservationists monitor and identify the populations at night when they are most active.

This exciting initiative follows the release of more than 5,000 partula snails in 2023 - thought to be the largest reintroduction in history.

Jo Elliot, curator at RZSS, said: “It is extremely exciting to be able to send some of our Partula snails, which we have been breeding for years, to be reintroduced directly back into their native habitat.

"We are extremely proud to be part of this vital collaborative breeding project, which is giving this incredible species a significant boost."

Partula snails were under imminent extinction threat in the 1980s and early 1990s, after the invasive predatory rosy wolf snail (Euglandina rosea) was introduced to rid the islands of a previously introduced non-native species, the African giant land snail (Lissachatina fulica).

Unfortunately, the predatory rosy wolf snail targeted the endemic Partula snails instead, meaning many were lost or left close to extinction shortly after the predator’s arrival.

The source group to begin re-populating the islands was gathered by RZSS and ZSL in collaboration with 15 zoos which care for 15 species and sub-species, the majority of which are classed as extinct in the wild.

Jo added: “Our success within the Partula snail program is owed to the teams who began the work here at Edinburgh Zoo many years ago and to those who now form the wider project partnership, working to ensure this initiative goes from strength to strength.

"This is a really wonderful conservation success story and further demonstrates the critical role zoos can play in species recovery.”

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