Chester Zoo unleashes hundreds of near extinct snails into the wild

The snails were believed to be the last of their kind00:01, 28 Jul 2026Conservationists have reintroduced hundreds of tiny snails on a rocky Atlantic island after a zoo breeding programme pulled four species back from the brink of extinction. The molluscs have been returned to Bugio island on the Madeiran archipelago, helping to restore habitat and support biodiversity on land once grazed bare by feral goats, mice and rabbits.‌Experts at Chester Zoo and ZooParc de Beauval in France were asked to step in by the Madeira government when a handful of snails - from the last known wild population - were carefully transported to each zoo in an effort to save them from extinction.‌Among them were 21 Geomitra coronula, believed to the last of their kind, which were found clinging to life beneath a