NEW Land Snail Exhibit

I wish it gave a binomial for these, "land snail" is a very unhelpful name.

@birdsandbats Right! I know there are strict laws regarding snails passing over state borders, so I am assuming they are some sort of garden snail kept in the state already?

They have some in guest services building with the ambassador animals too. I asked about species and was told "Generic Land Snail".

@ConcernedThirdParty Do they not even know the species? That answer is actually the least helpful one you could have gotten.

@birdsandbats I'm not sure they do know. The services building is staffed by volunteers who are not usually the most knowledgeable. Actual care staff are of course more knowledgeable but are difficult to find. There are about 100 land snail species native to Wisconsin; so, I am wondering if someone just found them on the grounds and brought them inside.

@ConcernedThirdParty These don't look like a native species.

These snails came from a rescue group. They did not share a scientific name and as someone else stated, there are a lot of laws regarding snails as a potential invasive species. To guess a sciefitic name could have serious implications. Maybe seeing the snails and admiring their unique adaptations (they are super cool to watch and have quite a bit of personality!) is enough to create the important connection between animals and zoo guests.

Considering the regular USDA checks, I would say it’s unlikely that they are a particularly potentially harmful snail like those in the family Achatinidae, unfortunately in the US most non-native invertebrates that are seized are killed, recently a new picture was uploaded of the snails in question and they look to be the garden snail (Cornu aspersum) (of course this isn’t definitive) These snails are somewhat common in the pet trade but from what I know, they aren’t really kept to often in public facilities in North America.