In this section:

Green Snail alert for South Australia

MEDIA RELEASE  

Friday 7 October, 2011

Biosecurity SA has warned South Australians and travellers to beware of the risk of green snails entering the state.


The declared exotic plant pest was recently detected in northern Victoria for the first time, in a lucerne crop near Cobram. The location is near a direct interstate route with the potential for the snail to be carried in hay bales, nursery stock or harvested leafy vegetables.


Biosecurity SA’s Manager Plant and Food Standards, Geoff Raven, said the small green snail (Helix aperta) became established in the Perth area in the 1980s and has damaged a wide range of vegetables, as well as wheat, lupins, pasture grasses and native plants.

 
“If green snails got into South Australia they could have a significant effect on agricultural production,” Mr Raven said.


“Primary Industries in Victoria has established a 25 kilometre radius exclusion zone around the Cobram site infestation.


“Our message to any travellers entering South Australia from Victoria or New South Wales is, if they are carrying any vegetables with them, they must hand them in at the border quarantine station.


“Green snails can breed very quickly, resulting in up to 1 000 young snails per square metre, so it’s vital we do everything possible to prevent this voracious pest’s entry into SA.”


Mr Raven said green snails spread through movement of infested plant material such as hay bales, nursery stock or harvested leafy vegetables such as broccoli. Over the long weekend, horse feed intended for South Australia was stopped at a border quarantine station as a precaution.


Mature green snails have an olive-green shell and white flesh and are generally smaller than the brown, common garden snail. Like some other snails, it remains dormant through summer (December-March). But unlike other snails, it burrows into the soil before becoming dormant, making baiting ineffective during that period.


Any suspect observations of green snails should be reported to the Plant Health hotline on 1800 084 881.
For more information visit http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/biosecuritysa/planthealth/emergency_plant_pests