Conservation project helping ensure survival of Tasmanian semi-slug named after David Attenborough

“The irony of this is of course Sir David is not on email, he only uses snail mail”: The iconic voice of conservation David Attenborough’s link with Tasmania grows.

Sir David Attenborough receives the Australian Museums highest honour, Lifetime Patron, and had a new genus named after him, at a special event marking the start of the AMs 190th anniversary year. Picture: Australian Museum

A “very attractive” Tasmanian semi-slug named in honour of popular natural historian Sir David Attenborough has been given a fighting chance with a new project designed to ensure its survival.

The Attenborougharion rubicundus is a semi-slug found only in rainforests of the Tasman and Forestier Peninsulas.

Also known as the Burgundy snail, as it has a soft shell that it cannot retract into, the creature has a small area of habitation which has been affected by bushfires in the past few years.

NRM South is receiving $50,000 as part of the Tasmanian Government’s Threatened Species Fund to survey the status and distribution of the snail and its threats and to develop a practical management strategy to ensure its survival.

Australian Museum director and CEO Kim McKay said biodiversity was under threat in Australia and it was critical to protect and preserve the ecosystem for the future.

CEO at The Australian Museum Kim McKay pictured here in the museum's new 'Mammoth' exhibition. (AAP Image / Julian Andrews).

“Every creature — no matter how small an area they occupy, or if you think it’s just a slug or a semi-slug — plays an important role in that ecosystem,” Ms McKay said.

“We can only conserve that ecosystem for the future and have a forest continue to function if the biodiversity is maintained.”

She said every creature, from the semi-slug to the human, has a role to play in the ecosystem.

“No one is more important than the other because of the interdependency that occurs,” she said.

The semi-slug was named on the Museum’s 190th birthday in 2017, having been discovered by the Australian Museum’s Isabel Hyman in 2016.

“It was very pretty — it had a lovely red head and a nice green body and we thought it’s a very attractive semi-slug and that’s why we named it after Sir David,” Ms McKay said.

Sir David Attenborough. Picture Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images

Sir David was visiting the museum to give a talk and be inducted as a Lifetime Patron and the museum wanted to honour the larger-than-life biologist by naming the recently described semi-slug after him.

Ms McKay presented the name to Sir David at the museum, having liaised with him in the lead up to the event and discussed the global significance of the collection, which is the fifth oldest natural history museum in the world.

“The irony of this is of course Sir David is not on email, he only uses snail mail,” Ms McKay said.

Tasmanian Environment Minister Madeleine Ogilvie said that the Tasmanian Government was committed to the conservation of native wildlife, both big and small.

Other projects being funded as part of the first round relate to Rubicon Sanctuary, Southport heath, Morrisby’s gum, Miena cider gum, Woodland Birds on Bruny Island, and saltmarsh restoration at Burdens Marsh.

“While the snail may be small, it’s ours, and was named in honour of a biologist cherished by many Australians, so we want it to continue to thrive in our beautiful rainforests,” Ms Ogilvie said.

At the time, Sir David said “there is no greater compliment that a Museum, or indeed a Natural Scientist, can pay to another one, than by naming a family, and a name, after that individual.

“So Attenborougharion rubicundus will be on my wall for a long time to come, and I accept it with the greatest of pleasure and my utmost thanks to you all,” he said.

Originally published as Conservation project helping ensure survival of Tasmanian semi-slug named after David Attenborough