They have existed for 500 million years and today 40 percent of snail species are threatened. The “animal of the year” is the snail as an important “soil maker”. Mollusc expert Estée Bochud explains what else snails can do.
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-The Hainschnirkel snail can be found almost everywhere in Switzerland. It shapes the image we have of a snail. She often wears a yellow, sometimes pink or brownish little house. This makes it the most colorful species in all of Europe. It eats dead plants and is considered a “soil maker”. For the first time, the environmental organization Pro Natura has chosen a snail as animal of the year to show the importance of these small, often little-loved animals for the soil. Meanwhile, 40 percent of snail species are on the red list. Estée Bochud is a biologist and works as a mollusk expert at the Natural History Museum in Bern. She researches an archive of 4 million houses, shells and specimens and is a guest in Karoline Arn’s daily conversation.
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