In 1989, Detroit Zoo began saving lost snails; 37 years later, 500 head 5,000 miles to Tahiti

Representative Image (AI-generated) A conservation effort that began nearly four decades ago is sending hundreds of tiny snails on a remarkable journey back to their native home. Five hundred Partula snails raised at the Detroit Zoo are travelling more than 5,000 miles from Michigan to Tahiti, where they will be released into the wild as part of a long-running effort to restore populations of these endangered native snails. According to the Detroit Zoological Society, the latest shipment is part of an international conservation program that has returned more than 17,000 Partula snails to their native islands. The Detroit Zoo has been involved in the effort since 1989, helping breed and care for the snails after invasive predators caused their populations to collapse in the wild. The broader program has helped return 11 Partula species that were once considered extinct in the wild.A decades-long effortPartula snails are small, tree-dwelling mollusks native to islands in French Polynesia. Although they may seem insignificant compared with larger endangered animals, several Partula species faced a severe population collapse after an invasive predator was introduced to the islands. The...