While this is fairly old news (coming from April of this year), I thought it was interesting enough to warrant posting here.
In April 2019, a new conservation centre was opened on the island of Sao Tome off the West African coast, run by the Forest Giants Project. The main focus species of the centre is the Obô giant snail Archachatina bicarinata, an endemic species threatened by habitat degradation, over-harvesting and competition from introduced West African land snails Archachatina marginata. As well as the Obô giant snail, the centre is also breeding another two endemic snail species.
While the Obô giant snail is currently classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the first survey found only 150 live snails in over 1,800 survey areas.
A news article about the new conservation centre and the project in general is included below:
What it takes to save the Obô giant snail - a big snail on a small island
The website for the Forest Giants Project is included here:
Forest Giants
In April 2019, a new conservation centre was opened on the island of Sao Tome off the West African coast, run by the Forest Giants Project. The main focus species of the centre is the Obô giant snail Archachatina bicarinata, an endemic species threatened by habitat degradation, over-harvesting and competition from introduced West African land snails Archachatina marginata. As well as the Obô giant snail, the centre is also breeding another two endemic snail species.
While the Obô giant snail is currently classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the first survey found only 150 live snails in over 1,800 survey areas.
A news article about the new conservation centre and the project in general is included below:
What it takes to save the Obô giant snail - a big snail on a small island
The website for the Forest Giants Project is included here:
Forest Giants