Please Help Obô Snails

Please help save the Obô giant snail.

These massive molluscs are under immense pressure: an alien invader, the West African giant snail, is stealing their home; over-hunting for food and medicine has seen their population plummet; and the introduction of non-native mammals has driven this croissant-sized snail to the edge of extinction.

A series of ecological and social surveys conducted by FFI between 2018-2019 confirmed what local elders in Príncipe had anecdotally observed: massive drop-offs in Obô snail numbers across their isolated island.

This special snail is running out of time.

We must act now.

Thanks to the hard work of our conservationists, we know just how precarious the Obô’s position is. With your donation, we could implement a crucial conservation action plan designed to save the Obo snail from extinction.

With your help, we might be able to give this special species its home back.

So please, donate now, and help save the Obô snail.

The location of Príncipe Island, São Tomé & Príncipe.

FFI supported a series of ecological and social surveys on Príncipe between June 2018 and September 2019. These surveys provided a crucial insight into the dire situation faced by the Obô snail on the island. Just 119 live individuals were found, all restricted to a very small area of forest just 46km².

The Obô giant snail’s current predicted range on Príncipe.

These findings demonstrated how in just 20 years, the Obô snail has vanished from much of its previous range and has seen its population plummet. This is backed up by the anecdotal evidence provided by elderly locals who remember seeing these snails with much more frequency as children, compared to the rarity of the present day.

FFI is working closely with government agencies including the park authority, the Biosphere Committee, and the departments of Forestry, Agriculture and Fisheries and has developed and published a critical species action plan. The next step is to implement this formal conservation plan designed to protect these special snails. This strategy should strengthen the capacity for Príncipe to conserve its unique biodiversity and could be our last chance of saving this incredible snail.

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is the world’s oldest international conservation charity. Over the last 100 years, we have been on almost every frontline of conservation and literally saved species from extinction. We work to protect plants and animals around the globe – never wasting enormous sums of money on excessive publicity or silly gimmicks – instead spending 94% of our income on charitable activities.