--- title: Giant African Snails Continue to Thrive in Florida description: Giant African snails have continued to thrive in southern Florida, more than four years after the state launched an eradication program. canonical: https://time.com/3981509/giant-african-snail-florida/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-02T19:19:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:17.071Z og:title: Giant Snails the Size of Tennis Shoes Are Waging Terror in Florida og:description: The Giant African Snails even eat the stucco off houses og:url: https://time.com/3981509/giant-african-snail-florida/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ea2603a666af6bd/69885d7b196cf4fa8e0375dc/giant-african-snail-florida.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Giant African Snail Florida og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Giant Snails the Size of Tennis Shoes Are Waging Terror in Florida twitter:description: The Giant African Snails even eat the stucco off houses twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ea2603a666af6bd/69885d7b196cf4fa8e0375dc/giant-african-snail-florida.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Giant Snails the Size of Tennis Shoes Are Waging Terror in Florida > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species [Watch (HLS stream): Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zHyAT7e9.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2013-12-04. What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? TIME's Bryan Walsh explains how animals like the Asian carp, lionfish, and Burmese python can be a threat._  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Aug 2, 2015 7:19 PM UTC  A Giant African land snail is seen as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announces it has positively identified a population of the invasive species in Miami-Dade County on Sept. 15, 2011. A Giant African land snail is seen as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announces it has positively identified a population of the invasive species in Miami-Dade County on Sept. 15, 2011. Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Aug 2, 2015 7:19 PM UTC Giant African snails that can grow to the size of a tennis shoe are thriving in southern Florida, eating hundreds of plant species and even the stucco off houses more than four years after the state launched a $10 million program to eradicate them. The snails were first discovered in Miami in September 2011, [_AFP_ ](http://www.afp.com/en/news/floridas-giant-snails-prove-be-slippery-foe)[reports](http://www.afp.com/en/news/floridas-giant-snails-prove-be-slippery-foe), the first invasion since the 1960s. Since then the species has spread to new territory, including the southern suburbs of Miami and the neighboring Broward County. “The fact is they’re a human and animal health threat and they’re a threat to Florida’s agriculture. We can’t let the population continue,” said Mark Fagan, a spokesman for the state agriculture department. The giant African snails have continued to elude the state’s eradication efforts, which can prove fruitless when the gastropods climb trees to avoid chemicals on the ground, or hibernate below the soil for months at a time. Still, over 158,000 giant African snails have been removed in the past four years, with the last sighting reported in April, officials said. Two years must pass since the last snail is found alive in the wild for the state to declare the species eradicated. \[[_AFP_](http://www.afp.com/en/news/floridas-giant-snails-prove-be-slippery-foe)\] ## Transcript One of the biggest threats to endangered species isn't poaching, or pollution, or climate change. It's other animals. Here's what you need to know. Just look at the Asian carp, invasive species that have been threatening the US for years. The carp were imported by Midwest and fish farmers in the 1970s, eventually escaped due to flooding. The fish, which can grow as large as 110 pounds, who have a habit of leaping out of the water like silver missiles when they're threatened, are voracious eaters. US officials were so worried that the carp would make their way all the way up to the Mississippi River, and into the Great Lakes' ecosystem, that the White House named a carp czar in 2010, and has since spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to defend the Lakes; but those efforts may be for naught. A new study found out last month that a number of grass carp, a subspecies of Asian carp, seemed to have established themselves in a river that leads directly in to the Great Lakes, which means they could be setting up the stage to breed for years. Then there's the lion fish, a spine three- tipped species that has wreaked havoc in the Atlantic since it was accidentally introduced during Hurricane Andrew back in 1992. Lion fish is a rapid breeder, and an indiscriminate hunter, consuming more than 40 species, including valuable commercial ones like the grouper. Like many invasive species, they're especially dangerous because native species have no innate fear of them until too late. On land, Burmese pythons, often released accidentally as pets by their owners, have begun to menace the Florida everglades. The python can grow nearly 20 feet, can take down everything from bobcats to small alligators. In 2012, [ unk ] the everglades from the drastic reduction in the number of small mammals that tend to make up the diet of the python, a sign the snakes are beginning to have a major impact on one of the most important ecosystems in the United States. Given the threat from invasive species, it's unsurprising that governments spend billions of dollars a year in trying to deal with it. And the problem's getting worse. Part of the [ unk ] mixing up habitats, putting animals from one part of the world to another; while growing international trade can ship species across the globe. The fight against invasive species has long been a losing battle, and [ unk ] led some scientists to say time to stop trying to fight. After all, a species that left its home in Africa millions of years ago has since spread to every corner of the world. It should be a familiar one. 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