Panic as giant African land snail invades US state of Florida

A GIANT species of snail  - one of which was found and destroyed in Australia just last month - has launched an invasion in the US.

Giant snail

A GIANT species of snail - one of which was found and destroyed in Australia just last month - has launched an invasion in the US.

Authorities in Miami-Dade County in Florida have been destroying up to 1000 giant African land snails each week.

It was believed that the creatures had been eradicated from the area years ago but in September 2011, a local homeowner spotted one in his garden. Since then, more than 117,000 have been caught.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has warned that the population will explode in seven weeks when the snails emerge from underground hibernation for the start of the rainy season.

Giant snail

Department spokeswoman Denise Feiber said the snail's enormous size - they can grow to the size of a large rat and weigh up to a kilogram - led people to think that they might make "cute pets".

"They're huge, they move around, they look like they're looking at you ... communicating with you, and people enjoy them for that," she told NBC news.

"But they don't realise the devastation they can create if they are released into the environment where they don't have any natural enemies and they thrive."

The species devours anything green and leafy in its path and can produce as many as 1,200 eggs each year.

It carries a parasitic rat lungworm that can cause a form of meningitis in humans. It is also considered a threat to homes because of its appetite for stucco, which it consumes to get the calcium quota needed to maintain its shell.

Last month authorities in Queensland destroyed a giant African land snail found in a container yard after it was deemed a serious risk to Australia's biosecurity.

Acting Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry regional manager Paul Nixon said the species was capable of destroying 500 types of plants including vegetable crops, fruit trees and Australia's native eucalypts.