Scientists rescue critically endangered snail the size of a pinhead
Scientists rescued 30 critically endangered Norfolk Island hairy snails and began breeding them.
An expert team from the Australian Museum and Taronga Zoo raced to Norfolk Island in August to save a snail found nowhere else on Earth. The snail was in critical danger.
The Norfolk Island hairy snail is about seven millimetres across. It is covered in golden hairs.
It lives only in a 10-20 square-metre patch of rainforest. The population fell from 68 a year ago to just four by May.
Rats, chickens, invasive ants, and climate change were threats. A full survey found just 24 live snails.
Weeks later, rangers counted 20 and 73 more. The team collected 30 snails.
They began breeding them at the zoo. They used a closely related species as a surrogate.
This helped test their methods. All adapted well and started having live babies.
A similar program saved another rare Norfolk Island snail species. It was successfully released back into the wild.
- 7 millimetres across
- Snail size
- 10-20 square metres
- Habitat patch
- 68 in August to 4 in May
- Population decline in eight months
- 30 specimens
- Snails collected for breeding
Why it mattersSnails break down dead leaves and feed native animals. When a species dies out, it harms island ecosystems. This matters even for tiny, unknown species.
AustraliaAustralia is home to 60 unique snail species on Norfolk Island alone, and this rescue model could save others as climate change and invasive species threaten wildlife worldwide.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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