NowMyNews

A Giant African snail. Picture: Wikimedia Commons (cc) AUTHORITIES in Brisbane have destroyed a ‘baseball-sized’ Giant African snail after worries it could do severe damage to the country’s ecosystem. The snail, which can grow up to a foot (30cm) in length and weigh over two pounds (1kg), was found in a freight yard in the port city. Giant African snails are known to eat 500 different plants, fruits and crops. Australian agriculture officials were keen to avert a repeat of the last snail outbreak in 1977, when an eight-month campaign was waged to capture and destroy 300 of the snails. Australian biosecurity measures are notoriously strict, in order to protect

Workers from Florida’s Department of Agriculture are fighting a slimy and dangerous enemy: giant African land snails that have invaded a residential area in Miami-Dade County. “We have collected over a thousand so far and we have only just begun,” said Denise Feiber, Public Information Director for Florida’s Division of Plant Industry. Florida Department of Agriculture/Division of Plant Industry Investigators aren’t sure when or how the invaders slithered into town, but they are on a mission to eradicate the snails as fast as possible.  Giant African land snails can grow to be as long as 8 inches and consume at least 500 different types of plants.  They also destroy stucco and plaster. “They leave excrement all over the sides of houses. They’re very nasty,” Feiber said.  “These things are not the cute little snails that you see.” They also pose a health risk by carrying a parasite that can cause meningitis in humans. Officials realized they had a problem on their hands last