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Headline: Zoo Experts Save Tiny Snails From Extinction

Caption: A group of tropical snails, believed to be extinct for more than 15 years, have been released back to the wild by conservationists at Chester Zoo. The 800 lesser Bermuda snails, which were once driven to the brink of existence, have been given a new lease of life and travelled 3,000 miles back home to Bermuda, after being lovingly bred and reared by the zoo’s invertebrate specialists. Feared to have vanished from the wild altogether, the species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and experts say that the last live individuals were seen in Bermuda more than 15 years ago. The tiny snails, which can only be found on the remote oceanic islands of Bermuda, disappeared after flatworms and carnivorous snails, two invasive species introduced by humans, devastated the last remaining snail populations on the islands, along with the destruction of their habitat. The move to recover the species comes after 18,000 greater Bermuda snails – a close relative of the lesser Bermuda snail – were successfully reintroduced last year by conservationists from Chester Zoo and the Bermudian government. Now, a further 10,000 greater Bermuda snails have also been sent back to Bermuda to boost their number and distribution across the Oceanic islands. It’s the first time two species of snails have ever been reintroduced as part of a conservation breeding and release programme in Bermuda.

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