Giant African Snail Found, Killed in Australia By Biosecurity Officers, 'World's Largest & Most Damaging Land Snails'

A giant African Snail was found in Brisbane and killed after worries it could severely damage the country's ecosystem.

The snail discovered in a Brisbane shipping container yard was identified as a giant African snail that can grow up to a foot in length and weigh over two pounds.

The invasive species are known to eat 500 different species of corps, fruit, and native Australian plants. It can lay 1,200 eggs a year, tolerates extreme temperatures and few natural enemies in Australia. In addition, can transmit meningitis infections to humans, which can be fatal in some cases.

The discovery sparked fears of and keen to avert the last snail outbreak in 1977, when an eight-month campaign was launched rid of the menace, at that time 300 snails were captured and killed.

In a statement, Paul Nixon of the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said that "giant African snails are one of the world's largest and most damaging land snails," adding that "Australia's strict biosecurity requirements and responsive system has so far kept these pests out of Australia, and we want to keep it that way."

Howard Wallace of the Florida Department of Agriculture recently said the creatures "are so bad in Nigeria, they actually flatten tires on cars on the road, the shells, they're so tough."

Wallace added that in Florida, giant African snails "[affect] not only agriculture, but our way of life, our health, and our safety."

Australia's officials inspected the container yard and found no evidence of additional snails, eggs or snail trails. They will continue surveillance into next week.