Achatina Fulica - Pest Control

Pest Control

In many places the snail is seen as a pest. Suggested preventative measures include strict quarantine to prevent introduction and further spread. Many methods, including hand collecting and use of molluscicides and flame-throwers, have been tried to eradicate the giant snail. Generally, none of them has been effective except where implemented at the first sign of infestation. In Bhutan, the Plant Protection Center used salt to contain the snails, while to reduce snails' food availability, the surrounding weeds were killed using glyphosate.

In some regions, an effort has been made to promote use of the Giant East African Snail as a food resource, the collecting of the snails for food being seen as a method of controlling them. However, promoting a pest in this way is a controversial measure, as it may encourage the further deliberate spread of the snails.

One particularly catastrophic attempt to biologically control this species occurred on South Pacific Islands. Colonies of A. fulica were introduced as a food reserve for the American military during the second world war and they escaped. A carnivorous species (Florida rosy wolfsnail, Euglandina rosea) was later introduced by American government, but it instead heavily harvested the native Partula, causing the loss of most Partula species within a decade.