The African Giant Snail Menace In Kerala
A Sci-Fi Plot
1950s Kerala. A newly formed state in a newly formed nation. The entire atmosphere was filled with hope, and people from all walks of life aimed to make this nation advance in all fields, ranging from world peace to self-sufficiency to science and technology.
In such a background, some specimens were brought to a laboratory in Palakkad. However, these were no ordinary specimens. These were actually dangerous aliens, which had the power to transmit fatal diseases to the human population.
A few of the aliens managed to escape from the lab and found the environment in Kerala favorable for breeding. The aliens multiplied rapidly and came to occupy almost all of the state. The diseases spread by them made a significant toll on the population. The Government and population struggled hard to fight back, but the aliens just kept multiplying.
An Introduction to the African Giant Snail
The above passage looks like the script of a science fiction movie featuring an alien invasion and/or a zombie outbreak. However, this is not a work of imagination. The ‘aliens’ mentioned here are actually snails - the African Giant Snail. These snails breed rapidly - they can lay 500 to 900 eggs, twice a year. These snails also carry worms that can spread meningitis to children.
The Alien in Kerala
Originally native to Eastern Africa, the African Giant Snail (Achatina Fulica) has now made Kerala its home. Barring the district of Idukki, it is found all over the state. The snail is said to have arrived in Kerala in multiple waves. The first arrival was due to the lab escape, and subsequent arrivals were due to trade (especially through wood).
Listed among the ‘100 Most Invasive Species’ worldwide by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), this snail can be easily identified by its huge cone-shaped purple-colored shell. It can live for up to seven years and can start breeding from the age of one. The snail is a hermaphrodite (has both male and female gametes), and all these reasons, along with the number of eggs laid per season make the African Giant Snail a highly invasive species.
The Menace
Rather than being a well-behaved guest, the snail has become an extremely hard-to-tackle menace in the state. The snail is notorious for damaging crops, eating away concrete from walls (it needs the calcium for the huge shell), and spreading diseases like meningitis, septicemia, and peritonitis in humans.
Thus there is an urgent need for its eradication. However, the high population and breeding capacity of the snail are two pressing issues in this regard.
Eradication Methods in Kerala
The traditional method of eradication is to apply molluscicides like metaldehyde. However, they pose the danger of affecting species like other snails and aquatic animals, the absence of which can adversely affect the ecosystem. Thus, these remedies have the potential to become worse than the ailment.
However, not all hope of eradication is lost. Two students at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) have developed a mixture of copper sulfate and tobacco decoction. This mixture has been proven to be successful in killing these specific snails, and eradication efforts are underway in the state.
There is another challenge as well when it comes to eradication. The snail needs moisture to breed, and the monsoon in Kerala is the perfect time for the snail to come out in large numbers and multiply. The snail then goes underground in summer, only to resurface in the next monsoon.
This creates a misconception among the people after every monsoon that the snail has been exterminated, and that all eradication work can be stopped. The reappearance of the snail in the next monsoon, however, proves otherwise. Due to this temporary stopping of eradication work, all earlier efforts get wasted.
Thus, there is a need for a proactive approach by all stakeholders - the Government, the scientists, and the general population, to overcome these challenges and fight the menace.
Has the snail been eradicated elsewhere?
Past experience with the African Giant Snail in the rest of the world brings a glimmer of hope. Yes, this snail has been eradicated not once, but twice in two distant parts of the world. The first instance was in Florida, USA, where a 10-year eradication program was highly successful in the 1960s. The entire operation took about $700,000 at that time. The second instance was in the Philippines, in the late 1970s, which cost about $60,000.
What can the reader do in this situation?
The reader can take the following precautions to prevent the growth and spread of the snail and its associated diseases:
1) Do not touch the slime of the snail under any circumstances
2) Do not touch the snail without proper protection
3) Practice proper hygiene with respect to food - like washing vegetables, cooking meat properly, and boiling water.
4) Do not let the snail come in contact with walls of houses, vehicles, or wood.
5) Pay attention to children playing outdoors, as these groups are the most vulnerable to meningitis disease.
Conclusion
As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, when humanity is under threat from another species, all of us need to stand together as one to fight it. This is the same case with the Giant Snail menace. The snail is an unwelcome guest to this part of the world, and a life-threatening one in that. However, we must realize that if Florida and the Philippines can eradicate this snail, then so can Kerala. We must anticipate for the best and work hard to achieve it.
References
This writer would like to acknowledge the following sources which helped him create this article:
1) https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/kodagu-coffee-planters-take-on-giant-snail-invasion/
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