Bermuda Land Snails Named “Success Story”
Bermuda land snails have been named as one of the “ten biggest conservation success stories of 2019″ by WorldAtlas in a story that highlights the “diligent efforts of conservationists and policy makers.”
The story said, “The greater Bermuda land snails [Poecilozonites bermudensis] are among the oldest endemic animals in Bermuda. The snails have survived numerous changes to the ecology and landscape of the Bermuda Islands for more than a million years.
“However, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, their population declined dramatically as a result of introducing different predatory snails and changes to their habitats.
“By the 1990s, it was believed to have gone extinct until 2014 when they were discovered in Hamilton.
“Some snails were sent to Chester Zoo in the UK for a breeding program. The breeding was so successful and there are now about 13,000 snails. In June 2019, more than 4,000 snails were brought back and released into the wild in Bermuda.”
You can read the full story here on WorldAtlas.
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Category: All, Environment, News
Wow. This should be a headline.
It is pretty amazing eh ?
I remember seeing their fossilized shells in soft limestone outcroppings in the area I grew up in but didn’t learn until decades later that they were the (supposedly) extinct remains of an endemic species of land snail. In all my life I’ve never seen a live one and I’ve played around in gardens a lot !
Much like the incredible story of the recovery of the cahow that all boiled down to a guy who discovered a dead one at the base of St David’s lighthouse in the 50′s who didn’t know what it was but kept it to show someone who might know the cahow would more than likely have become extinct.
In the case of the endemic land snail’s recovery it almost comes down to one observant local who knew what they were and also thought they were extinct . But like the guy at the bottom of St David’s lighthouse she too was in the right place at the right time in a damp place in Walker’s Arcade. Otherwise these things could really have become extinct.
And lastly , yes, let’s keep them on secluded unpopulated islands. I just wonder how long it’ll be before some twit collects some and puts them back on mainland . We have an awful problem with the resurgence of the milk snail as it is .
Wow a great story, but the PLP are not interested. No money to be made there!
Why’ why why make a good story political! Truth is it was a PLP elected Priemier who was instrumental in saving the snails. Don’t take my word for it . Do some research
Escargot….anyone?