Marwell Wildlife Park are breeding eight species of Partula snails which are either extinct in the wild or critically endangered.

Geoff Read, Marwell’s Herptile and Invertebrates manager said: "These snails desperately need our help.

"We have 50% of the world’s population for some Partula species.

"The International Partula Conservation Programme has plans to re-introduce the snails into the wild, so there could be hope for the future."

In the wild, the snails were found only on islands in the Pacific Ocean. 

In the 1970s African land snails were introduced to the Pacific islands as a source of food for the local people but they were released when the meat proved unpopular.

These snails bred quickly in the wild and started eating crops. In 1974, in an effort to control the land snails, the predatory Florida rosy wolfsnail was introduced to the island.

But instead of eating the land snails they fed on the tree snails leading to the extinction of many Partula species.

Should more be done to help endangered species? Let us know in a comment below…