Few species that have gone completely extinct have been successfully reintroduced in the wild. So the discovery of a small snail on the South Pacific island of Moorea in early September was a historic moment.
“This is the kind of news that you work your whole career for,” said Kayla Garcia, zoological manager of invertebrates at the St. Louis Zoo. “This is an amazing discovery, an amazing accomplishment, and you can't just can't help but just feel all of the good feelings coursing through you.”
The unmarked, born-in-the-wild Partula tohiveana snail is the offspring of snails that were reintroduced to the island by a consortium of zoos and organizations — including St. Louis Zoo — that banded together to implement Partula Species Survival Plan in 1990. The snail’s discovery is a mark of success for a conservation effort 34 years in the making.
The species will be moved from “Extinct-in-the-Wild” to the “Critically Endangered” category on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
St. Louis Zoo staff play a key role in the effort to keep the ecologically important Partula snails from extinction in their native habitats in French Polynesia. Its keepers and volunteers raise thousands of snails for annual reintroduction releases on the islands.
This September, the zoo coordinated the shipment of more than 3,200 of the Partula nodosa — a subspecies of Partula snails —which were released in dense, lowland jungle areas of Tahiti. The shipment included about 1,000 snails that were raised in St. Louis.
St. Louis Zoo invertebrate keeper Anthony Oliveira worked with fellow zookeepers and conservationists to release the snails on trees near a stream.
“To be out in their natural habitat, release them and see them immediately do their thing — start climbing the trees, feeding on the dead plant material and fungus — it’s very rewarding,” he said.
Garcia said that being part of an effort to bring Partula snails back from near extinction is what conservationists dream of for all endangered species. While the Partula snail's natural habitat is over 5,000 miles away, their survival is paramount to the world’s ecosystem.
“These snails are part of a larger environment,” he said. “They are one piece in this puzzle, and you never know what happens when you take a piece of that puzzle out of any environment, and what happened with the Partula snails is something that happens all over the world.”
For more on St. Louis Zoo’s part in global conservation listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
