Giant African Snail

About Giant African Snail

• Giant African Snail is the common name for several large African land snail species.
• It is also known as the Lissachatina fulica.
• Habitat: It thrives in warm tropical and subtropical areas with mild temperatures and high humidity.
  • It is found in agricultural areas, coastal areas, wetlands, forests, riparian zones, scrublands, shrublands and urban zones. 
• Distribution: It is native to East Africa.
  • It has been widely introduced to other parts of the world through the pet trade, as a food resource and accidental introduction.
• Characteristics:
  • Size: An adult is usually 3–4 inches long, but it can reach 8 inches in length and 5 inches in diameter.
  • Shell: It has a brownish, cone-shaped shell with nearly vertical lighter-brown stripes.
  • Body: Its body can be grayish-brown or milky-white.
  • Reproduction: It is a hermaphrodite and can self-reproduce, allowing one snail to start a population.
  • Diet: It can feed on more than 500 types of crops and ornamental plants.
  • Health Impact: It can carry the rat lungworm parasite (Angiostrongylus cantonensis), which can cause eosinophilic meningitis in humans.
• Threats: It is one of the world’s worst invasive species and threatens agriculture, animals and people.
• Conservation Status: The IUCN Red List lists it as Not Evaluated.
  • The IUCN Global Invasive Species Database lists it as a major agricultural and ecological threat.