1,329 tiny snails released on Atlantic Island to prevent extinction (Portugal) 28/Dec/2024

Over 1,300 pea-sized endangered snails were released on a remote Atlantic island to save them from extinction.
According to BBC, the 1,329 critically endangered snails that were bred in zoos after being rescued from an island in Portugal were set to wander free on the Atlantic island.
The snails release has brought two species from Desertas Island back to the wild that were thought to be extinct, as neither species had been spotted for a century.
Moreover, a small population of the surviving species was found by the team of conservationists on the cliffs of Deserta Grande Island, close to Madeira. After spotting the endangered snails, they mounted rescue efforts.
The snails were then sent to the zoos in the UK and France, including Chester Zoo, where they were kept in their homes made in a converted shipping container.
Moreover, the tiny molluscs habitat on the Desertas Island was destroyed by the rats, mice, and goats brought by the humans, and it was believed that the predators had eaten all of the snails, but a series of conservation expeditions between 2012 and 2017 left everyone surprised after the conservationists discovered the last 200 surviving individuals.
The snails left free on the island are marked with identification dots with the help of non-toxic pens and nail varnish.
Dinarte Teixeira, a conservation biologist at Madeira's Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, said, “(It is a) colour code. This will allow us to spot them and track where they disperse to, how much they grow, how many survive, and how well they adapt to their new environment."
Heather Prince from Chester Zoo explained that these snails are an important part of the natural habitat on the island as they help plants grow.
#snails
#conservation
#landsnails
#DesertasIsland
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