Summary
This is a big story about a little snail. Biologist Helen Scales relates an epic tale that spans the globe and involves calamity, tragedy, extinction and we hope, salvation. It stars the tiny tree-dwelling mollusc from French Polynesia, Partula, a snail that has captivated scientists for centuries. Like Charles Darwin studied finches on the Galapagos, Partula became an icon of evolution because, in the living laboratories of the Pacific islands, it had evolved into multiple species. But a calamity drove Partula to extinction, when a botched biological control, the predatory Rosy Wolf Snail, was introduced. It was supposed to eat another problem mollusc, but in a cruel twist, devoured tiny Partula instead. An international rescue mission was scrambled to save a species and from just one or two rescued individuals, populations of this snail species have been built up over thirty years in captive breeding programmes in zoos around the world. And now, in the nailbiting sequel, we track Partula’s journey home.
Picture: Reintroduced Partula dispersing on Moorea in French Polynesia, Credit: ZSL
Presenter: Helen Scales Producer: Fiona Hill
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless |
| 0:06.8 | searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the |
| 0:11.8 | telly we share what we've been watching |
| 0:14.0 | Cladie Aide. |
| 0:16.0 | Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming. |
| 0:19.0 | Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige. |
| 0:21.0 | And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less |
| 0:24.9 | searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. |
| 0:29.1 | This is a tale of a snail, but make no mistake it's a story of epic proportions which spans the globe and involves calamity, tragedy, extinction, and we hope salvation. |
| 0:45.0 | I'm writer and biologist Helen Scales, and in this edition of Discovery S-O-S-S-Nail on the BBC World Service, |
| 0:52.0 | I'll be following the trail of some remarkable tree-dwelling |
| 0:55.3 | mollusks from French Polynesia called Partula. |
| 0:59.4 | You might already be wondering what makes these snails so special. Well as we'll see |
| 1:04.5 | Partula have become giants among mollusks, icons both of evolution and extinction. |
| 1:11.5 | I'm starting my snail trail here at the bug house at London Zoo where 30 years |
| 1:16.8 | after they became extinct in the wild, partular snails are ready to return home. |
| 1:21.8 | They're not moving at all. |
| 1:24.0 | They're all clinging to the walls. |
| 1:26.0 | Except for that one over there, |
| 1:28.0 | he's just like, |
| 1:29.0 | how all this show we start moving. |
| 1:31.0 | Do you think it's a good idea to put them back? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.