Animal of the year 2025 is the grove snail

The grove snail is the animal of the year 2025. According to the nature conservation organization Pro Natura, the little-noticed but widespread animal is said to be an ambassador for all creatures that live in the soil.

Because the ground is disappearing, Pro Natura wrote in a statement on Friday. The diversity beneath our feet needs better protection.

According to Pro Natura, the snail species is part of the enormous variety of creatures that break down organic material and add it to the soil. Two thirds of all known species worldwide are soil organisms. They ensure intact soils from which we humans also benefit, be it for agricultural production, as a water filter or as a CO2 storage facility.

According to the nature conservation organization, grove snails and co. create an average of 0.1 millimeters of new soil every year. However, during extreme events such as heavy rain or dry periods with strong winds, up to 5 millimeters of soil can be lost per year.

Improper agricultural use also leads to undesirable soil loss on at least 10 percent of Swiss arable land. In addition, more than half a square meter of fertile soil is sealed every second in Switzerland. Where the soil is damaged by sealing, heavy machinery or the use of pesticides, species such as the grove snail suffer.

Not particularly demanding

The grove snail is currently not considered threatened. It inhabits different habitats from sparse forests to diverse agricultural land to natural gardens and is therefore at home in almost all of Switzerland.

The snail is therefore not particularly demanding when it comes to its habitat, wrote Pro Natura. But she couldn’t be without shelter, shaded areas and withered plant material.

With a shell diameter of around 2.5 centimeters, grove snails are one of the larger native snail species. The snails’ houses are creamy white to pastel red and have up to five dark bands. The snail shell is not just the snail’s place of refuge when it is dry or cold, as Pro Natura explained. The calcareous shell also contains the animal’s heart, liver, lungs, stomach and kidney.

Traveling at a snail’s pace

The snail travels around 3.5 meters per hour. It moves on a carpet of slime that it produces itself. This means that it can crawl over even knife edges without being damaged. Depending on their needs, snails can produce mucus in different compositions: as a travel mat, during mating, as a defense agent, in case of injuries.

According to Pro Natura, during the mating season in spring or autumn, the grove snails offer an “amazing spectacle”. As a bisexual mollusk, each snail can produce both sperm and eggs. Before the animals exchange seed packets, they caress each other for hours. This also includes stimulation with a love arrow made of lime. They later lay a few dozen eggs in a hole they dug in the ground. The tiny young snails hatch after three weeks. The grove snail becomes sexually mature at the age of three. In the wild it can live for around six years.

A total of 254 species of snails have been detected in Switzerland so far. Around 40 percent of these species are threatened. According to Pro Natura, the Red List of Switzerland’s molluscs (snails and mussels) is currently being revised. In 2026 we will know what the situation is with the snail world in Switzerland. (sda)