Rare, ‘cute’ species is back in Hawaii forest after nearing extinction, officials say
A rare species of Hawaiian snail is back in the wild after being rescued from extinction, officials said.
The first group of Achatinella fuscobasis was released into a forest reserve on Oahu, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, or DLNR, said in a Dec. 18 news release.
The species has been rebounding in captivity since 1991, when the last 11 were collected by a University of Hawaii researcher from “the only known populations on Oahu,” according to officials. There are now more than 1,000 at DLNR’s Snail Extinction Prevention Program lab, and the Bishop Museum and Honolulu Zoo also will raise the species “at their new snail labs so people will get a chance to see the species up close,” officials said.
The snails “are true public-trust jewels of nature and culture,” David Sischo, coordinator of the Snail Extinction Prevention Program, said in the news release.
“They are drivers of ecosystem function, collectively cleaning and cycling nutrients in the forest,” Sischo said. “They have deep ties to Hawaiian tradition with revered significance in chant, hula and lei making. They are also just really cute.”
The snails are living in the Ko‘olau Mountains in a fenced “exclosure” that keeps out predators such as rats, Jackson’s chameleons and rosy wolf snails, officials said.
The habitat took about five years to create, with officials and volunteers spending hundreds of hours removing predators, clearing weeds and putting in native species, officials said.
“Recovery of these Hawaiian snails, from captive rearing to reintroduction in the forest, was truly a collaborative process with care and aloha woven throughout,” officials said.
Sischo said the immediate goal “was to secure the species from extinction by getting their numbers up and having both captive and wild colonies.”
The long-term goal is “to see thriving colonies back in the wild where they belong,” he said.
More of the snails are set to be released in February, officials said.
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