Giant snail pest found at Brisbane container yard

Photo courtesy of Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

A giant exotic snail has been humanely destroyed after being found crawling across the concrete at a Brisbane container yard.

Staff called Department of Agriculture biosecurity officers after seeing the snail, described as being the size of a cricket ball, sliding slowly across the cement.

Entomologists have identified it as a giant African snail, a species which can grow up to 20 centimetres long and weigh up to a kilogram.

The species is found throughout Africa and Asia capable of destroying crops, fruit trees and native forests.

An individual snail can lay up to 1,200 eggs a year after a single mating and can live up to nine years. — via redwolf.newsvine.com