Over 7,000 ‘glow-in-the-dark' snails return to island homes
Over 7,000 ‘glow-in-the-dark' snails return to island homes
Nr zdjęcia:
4459129
Data:
2025-09-16
Opis:
First wild-born juvenile Partula varia found on native island of Huahine, French Polynesia THOUSANDS OF ‘GLOW-IN-THE-DARK' SNAILS have been reintroduced to French Polynesia as part of global conservation programme to save the snails from the brink of extinction. The annual reintroduction of zoo-bred Extinct in the Wild and Critically Endangered Partula snails saw over 7,000 snails returned to four islands, making it the largest release of the group of finger-nail sized snail species and subspecies to date. Before release, conservationists dotted the shell of each snail with a small dab of white UV reflective paint, which glows blue under UV light. As the snails are most active at night, the paint helps the team find released snails and monitor the recovery of the species. During the releases, the team discovered an unmarked, juvenile Partula varia – making it the first wild-born member of this reintroduced snail species to be spotted in over 30 years. This discovery is proof that the Partula species is not only surviving on their native island of Huahine, but that they are successfully breeding – a momentous milestone for the programme. The exciting find is a promising sign for recovery of the species and comes less than a year after the programme saw the reclassification of another Partula snail species –Partula tohiveana – from Extinct-in-the-Wild to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the global assessment of extinction risk. The team also found the first evidence of wild-bornPartula tohiveana living outside of their original release area on their native island of Moorea, indicating that the tropical snails are both continuing to thrive and expanding their range. The team hope that future surveys and reintroductions will soon lead to more discoveries of wild-born snails – including Partula varia - and allow more species and subspecies to join Partula tohieveana in being downlisted. The snails were part of c, Credit:ZSL / Avalon
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