Technical error kills a number of rare snails

New Zealand conservationists say a technical error has caused 800 rare earth snails (classified as highly endangered) to freeze to death.

The giant land snail called Powelliphanta (photo) is only available in New Zealand. A few years ago, due to the need to exploit a coal mine on Stockton plateau, it was relocated 6,000 Powelliphanta snails through a new living environment. 4,000 of them are returned to the natural environment, the rest are kept in custody for scientific research and conservation to avoid extinction.

John Lyall, technical manager, said the snails were kept in three containers. A temperature probe is suddenly broken, causing the temperature to drop too low and killing 800 snails.

According to the BBC , the accident caused some environmentalists to be unhappy and criticized for keeping animals rare instead of letting them live in the natural environment. First, their 'home' on the Stockton plateau was destroyed to mine coal, but this time they died in captivity. To avoid this recurrence, warning systems have been installed to regularly monitor.