Australians Kill Giant African Snail With Appetite for 500 Types of Crops

A giant African snail popped out in Brisbane, Australia, and authorities have destroyed it on fears of a snail pest that could threaten Australian crops.

According to The Brisbane Times, someone called the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry after finding a snail of the size of a cricket ball crawling across the cement yard. The DAFF official confirmed it to be an African snail – a giant, non-native pest, infamous for its voracious appetite for more than 500 types of crops.

Bristane authorities immediately dispatched the exotic animal.

"Giant African Snails are one of the world’s largest and most damaging land snails," DAFF regional manager Paul Nixon said in a statement released on Monday.

Nixon said officers found no evidence of other snails, eggs or snail trails when they inspected the container yard.

They will continue precautionary surveillance over the coming week.

‘‘Australia’s strict biosecurity requirements and responsive system has so far kept these pests out of Australia and we want to keep it that way,’’ Nixon continued.

The Brisbane Times reports that the "pest has an insatiable appetite and is capable of destroying 500 types of plants, including vegetable crops, fruit trees, and Australia’s native eucalypts"

‘‘Australia’s strict biosecurity requirements and responsive system has so far kept these pests out of Australia and we want to keep it that way," said Nixon.

As for the pest's impact, Australian officials have the battle that Floridians are now fighting with Giant African Snails to learn from.

The US Department of Agriculture describes the exotic pest in a blog in the following terms:

“big and slimy, the giant African snail is well-equipped to become an invasive species: they have voracious appetites, reproduce quickly, live a long time, and have no natural predators in Florida. The first snails were discovered and reported by a Miami homeowner in September 2011. In just six months, APHIS and FDACS have collected more than 40,000 of these giant creepy crawlies. Originally from East Africa, the snail has established itself throughout the Indo-Pacific Basin, including the Hawaiian Islands, and has been introduced into the Caribbean. Like other invasive species, giant African snails could enter the United States as hitchhikers on imported cargo. More often than not, however, the snails are smuggled illegally into the United States as pets or for food. When released into the environment, they can wreak major havoc on agriculture and the environment—much like what is happening in Florida right now."