This is no fairy tale: a giant snail has arrived in the Big Apple, and the only happy ending will be its destruction.
What is happening?
In June, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reported that an African land snail had been “surrendered” in Brooklyn to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
The mollusk, which can grow up to 8 inches long and 5 inches in diameter, is an invasive species in the state, the agency said in a Facebook post. It eats more than 500 plants and carries a parasite that can cause potentially fatal meningitis in humans.
Last month, Environmental Conservation Police (ECO) officers responded to @NYCParks about an invasive giant African land snail (Achatina fulica) in Prospect Park. A New York City parks employee said someone had returned the snail in a box to the wildlife department. pic.twitter.com/A7Zm10H6Kt
— New York State Department of Environmental Protection (@NYSDEC) June 21, 2024
It is not known whether the snail was a pet, but fingers crossed. If it lived in the wild, the municipality and possibly the state are in danger.
“This discovery is a frustrating addition to the large group of invasive species already present in New York State,” WRRV reported, citing the northern snakehead crab and the mitten crab.
The DEC said in a news release that possession of invasive species is prohibited by law.
Why is this important?
According to WRRV, snails can damage buildings, but the scariest thing is the risk of people contracting meningitis. The disease, which inflames tissue around the brain and spinal cord, has a high mortality rate, according to the World Health Organization, killing one in six people who contract bacterial meningitis, while one in five suffer serious complications.
The invasive snails arrived in Hawaii in 1936 and in the continental United States 30 years later. Florida spent $3 million, adjusted for inflation, over nine years to eradicate the species when it invaded the island. That was in 2011, and it took $23 million over 10 years to eradicate it, NPR reported, although three areas of the state are under quarantine.
Snails can self-reproduce, laying hundreds of eggs every two to three months.
What is being done about African land snails?
“This snail is a federally prohibited organism that cannot be legally sold or possessed in the United States,” according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Plant Industry Division.
While authorities and conservationists have encouraged the consumption of other invasive species, that has not been the case for the African land snail. In June, 90 snails were seized in Detroit from a traveler from Ghana, a West African country where they are a delicacy. The animals were euthanized.
The two eradications in Florida are the only two successful eradication operations in the world, according to FDACS. DPI used visual inspections, detector dogs and manual collection and treatment to get rid of 168,538 creatures in 32 areas after the last infestation.
According to FDACS, early detection, rapid response and public awareness are essential.
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