Rare Hawaiian snails return from brink of extinction, officials say
The northern long-eared bat population, which is currently classified as threatened, faces extinction due to the wide impacts of white-nose syndrome.
A rare snail species that had likely become extinct in the wild was recently reintroduced to the Hawaiian landscape.
Known as Achatinella fuscobasis, the snail species had dwindled to only 11 individuals in the wild by 1991, according to officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources in Hawaii.
Those remaining snails were collected that same year and raised in captivity for 33 years. Due to those efforts, their numbers have bounced up to 1,000.
An individual of the snail species Achatinella fuscobasis.
(Hawaii DLNR / FOX Weather)
Last week, the first batch of captive snails was released on the island of Oahu, specifically in the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve of the Ko’olau Mountains.
There, the snails are being housed in a fenced-in quarter-acre parcel of land that is able to keep unwanted animals out, officials said. Such animals include rats, Jackson’s chameleons and the cannibalistic rosy wolf snail, which have been the main drivers of the rescued snails’ extinction.
‘EXTINCT’ TROPICAL SNAILS REINTRODUCED TO TAHITI, MOOREA IN FRENCH POLYNESIA
DLNR officials noted that this new habitat for the snails was five years in the making. A team involving the DLNR Snail Extinction Prevention Program, along with partner and community volunteers, spent about 600 hours searching for and removing the snails’ predators from within.
Up-close view of the snails’ shells on a leaf.
(Hawaii DLNR / FOX Weather)
They also removed weeds and other invasive plants and restored the area with native species.
“Our snails are true public-trust jewels of nature and culture,” said SEPP Coordinator David Sischo, Ph.D. “They are drivers of ecosystem function, collectively cleaning and cycling nutrients in the forest. They have deep ties to Hawaiian tradition with revered significance in chant, hula and lei making.”
“They are also just really cute,” he added.
Another group of the snails will be released in February, officials noted.
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