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News: Kerala Agricultural University has launched a special project to eradicate African snails in Idukki following a request from the Agriculture department.
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.
