{"id":91823,"date":"2026-07-28T08:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/91823\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:48:11","slug":"chester-zoo-saves-entire-species-from-extinction-in-extraordinary-rescue-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/91823\/","title":{"rendered":"Chester Zoo saves entire species from extinction in extraordinary ‘rescue mission’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A British zoo has helped save entire species from extinction thanks to a daring “rescue mission”.<\/p>\n

Chester Zoo and France’s ZooParc de Beauval were enlisted by Madeira’s Government to conserve four snail species found nowhere else but the Deserta Islands.<\/p>\n

Their breeding programmes have now returned hundreds of pea-sized snails to their Atlantic home.<\/p>\n

The molluscs were so critically endangered that the entire world population of one species could have been contained in a single petri dish.<\/p>\n

Just 21 individuals of Geomitra coronula were discovered beneath one rock on Bugio Island – believed to be the last survivors.<\/p>\n

More than 300 snails bred at Chester Zoo have now been released, along with 270 Discula lyelliana specimens reared in France.<\/p>\n

Over the centuries, human activity destroyed the islands’ native woodland, while the rabbits and goats we introduced stopped vegetation from recovering.<\/p>\n

Mice, which were brought to the arid islands accidentally, then preyed on the snails as a source of water, devastating their numbers.<\/p>\n

Tamas Papp, assistant team manager for invertebrates at Chester Zoo, described the endeavour as a “rapid rescue mission for all four species of snail”.<\/p>\n

\"Pea-sized<\/p>\n

Hundreds of pea-sized snails have been returned to their Atlantic home thanks to the zoo<\/p>\n

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CHESTER ZOO<\/p>\n

Mr Papp added: “By the time the Madeira Government contacted us for help, one of the species, Geomitra coronula, was so close to extinction that its entire global population could fit inside a single petri dish.<\/p>\n

“We knew we had one shot to save them.<\/p>\n

“If we missed this chance, that was it they were gone.”<\/p>\n

Madeira’s efforts to remove invasive species from the island paved the way for the snails’ return, but the release itself proved extremely difficult.<\/p>\n

“It took us two hours to navigate less than two miles,” he said, as they searched for suitable crevices in the rock.<\/p>\n

SCIENCE BREAKTHROUGHS IN BRITAIN – READ MORE:<\/p>\n

\"Snail\"\/<\/p>\n

The entire global population of the snaills could fit inside a single petri dish before the zoo intervened<\/p>\n

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CHESTER ZOO<\/p>\n

Mr Papp said: “It might be the trickiest reintroduction we’ve ever done.<\/p>\n

“We had a short window due to rough weather, and there’s no jetty on the island.<\/p>\n

“We had to jump straight into the water, climb out, put helmets and harnesses on, and start scrambling up the cliff face.”<\/p>\n

The team travelled in darkness, using red-spectrum torches to protect the island’s rare seabirds from disturbance.<\/p>\n

\"\\u200bChester<\/p>\n

Chester Zoo is also running a breeding programe for Bermuda snails to bring them back from the brink<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

The snails measure no more than eight millimetres across but play a vital role in their ecosystem by consuming plant matter and enriching the soil.<\/p>\n

Their return is expected to help restore the natural habitat of the Deserta Islands.<\/p>\n

Chester Zoo is still keeping all four species – Atlantica calathoides, Geomitra grabhami, Geomitra coronula and Discula lyelliana – alive in biosecure breeding pods designed to replicate conditions in the wild.<\/p>\n

Conservationists working for the Madeira Government have carried out extensive work to clear the islands of goats, rabbits and mice.<\/p>\n

The reintroduced snails will now be monitored as they adjust to life back in their natural environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A British zoo has helped save entire species from extinction thanks to a daring “rescue mission”. Chester Zoo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[380,3434,2433,18,6153,4008,16,5,6],"class_list":["post-91823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-across-the-uk","tag-animals","tag-best-of-britain","tag-news","tag-north-west-of-england","tag-science","tag-sgg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116996741703800197","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}