Zoo staff rescue near-extinct snails from remote rock

Core point

Zoo conservationists have bred 300 near-extinct tiny snails and introduced them back into the wild. Just 21 Madeiran lands snails were found clinging to a rock on Portugal's Bugio Island, believed to be the last of their kind. Experts at Chester Zoo faced treacherous conditions to return the snails to their natural home, which is part of the Madeira archipelago. The Madeira government had requested assistance from Chester Zoo for the snail conservation effort.