Once-Lost Snail Returns After Decade-Long Conservation Success

A species once feared extinct has rebounded in Bermuda after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 greater Bermuda land snails back into the wild.

“It’s every conservationist’s dream to help save a whole species, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Tamás Papp, invertebrates assistant team manager at Chester Zoo.

Discovered alive in 2014 after years without sightings, fewer than 200 surviving snails launched a captive breeding effort that has since established six wild colonies, helping restore ecosystem balance as the species supports nutrient cycling and food webs while offering a model for future conservation recovery programmes.