Global conservation efforts to reintroduce a tiny snail to the wild have reached a momentous milestone, as adult Partula tohiveana snails have been discovered in their native French Polynesia for the first time in 40 years.
Led by ZSL’s Senior Curator of Invertebrates & Fish and Partula project coordinator, Paul Pearce-Kelly, a team of conservationists released over 6,000 snails bred in zoos around the world to the island of Moorea during their annual reintroduction trip. It was during this trip that unmarked Partula tohiveana snails were found, indicating that previously reintroduced snails have successfully bred in the area.
This discovery marks the successful establishment of the Partula tohiveana snails in French Polynesia, a result of 40 years of dedication and collaboration. As a result, conservationists will now begin the process of downlisting the snails from Extinct-in-the-Wild to Critically Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List.
The snails, each measuring only 1-2cm in length, were counted and marked with a dot of yellow UV reflective paint before being released by 15 zoos from around the world, including London Zoo, Bristol Zoological Society, Detroit Zoological Society, Marwell Wildlife, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Saint Louis Zoo, Sedgwick County Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, and Zoo Schwerin. This year’s release of over 15,000 snails is the largest in the programme’s history.
Paul Pearce-Kelly, London Zoo’s Senior Curator of Invertebrates and leader of the Partula conservation programme, said, “Despite their small size, these snails have great cultural, scientific, and conservation value. Partula snails are an important part of Polynesia’s cultural heritage and play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological health of their forest habitats. They have also been studied for over a century, providing valuable insights into how species evolve in isolated environments. Most importantly, they serve as a vital conservation model for hundreds of endangered island species.”
This collaborative conservation effort between the French Polynesian Government’s Direction de l’environnement and the 15 zoos aims to save Partula snails from extinction. In the 1980s and early 1990s, these snails faced a critical threat after the introduction of the invasive rosy wolf snail (Euglandina rosea) to control the African giant land snail (Lissachatina fulica). Unfortunately, the predatory species targeted the native snails instead, leading to the extinction or near-extinction of many Partula species across the region.
In the early 1990s, the last remaining individuals of several Partula species were rescued by London and Edinburgh Zoos, launching an international conservation breeding programme. This collaboration between 15 zoos cares for 15 species and subspecies, most of which are classified as Extinct-in-the-Wild. These rescued snails, along with those already being studied at universities in the UK and North America, became the foundation for reintroducing the species back onto their native island homes.
Paul Pearce-Kelly said, “After decades of caring for these species in conservation zoos and working with the Direction de l’environnement to prepare the islands, we started reintroducing Partula snails back into their lowland tropical forests almost 10 years ago. Since then, we’ve reintroduced over 30,000 snails, including 10 Extinct-in-the-Wild species and subspecies, with this year’s release being the largest so far, thanks to our international team and collaborators, including mollusc specialist Dr. Justin Gerlach of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.”
London Zoo’s coordination of the Partula snail reintroduction project is made possible due to funding from supporters including the Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, who have enabled London Zoo to continue bringing species back from the brink of extinction.
For more information on the vital conservation work being carried out at London Zoo, a ZSL conservation zoo, visit www.londonzoo.org.
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