A snail once feared extinct has turned up alive in a stretch of river where nobody had seen it for decades. ABC News reports that Aboriginal rangers have found a colony of Darling River snails clinging to a weir on the Barwon River near Walgett, in north-western New South Wales.
The Ngarrangarra-li Walaaybaa Rangers, who are backed by the Dharriwaa Elders Group, went looking after a tip from a local resident. They counted about 50 living snails, and the mix of young and old shells suggests the animals have been breeding. The Australian Museum confirmed the identification in September. For senior ranger John Sands it was a reunion: he remembers the snails from his childhood on the Namoi River more than 30 years ago.
The site is more than 700 kilometres upstream of the colonies found at Wilcannia and Louth since late 2024. River ecologist Martin Mallen-Cooper of Charles Sturt University called the find exciting. A state breeding centre at Narrandera already holds around 4,000 snails, and officials are working with traditional owners on a plan to return more of them to the river.
Source: ABC News