Dear Peter,

In Okinawa, this introduced pest is well established because of the good
climate here:
it has been around 25 degrees Celsius for the past few weeks. It does
not frost in
winter. We consider this pest a menace because there is a good chance of
its being
a vector of a dangerous parasite that can inflict humans and in fact
there was a
recent incident of a death due to this problem. I do not know if it
carries the same
parasite elsewhere, but I think it reasonable to ban its introduction
anywhere because
of the potential danger of carrying parasites, even though the species
cannot survive
winter conditions.

Masashi Yamaguchi

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Egerton" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 8:32 AM
Subject: Re: Recent invasions of Achatina fulica


> Hi all,
>
> I've been told by a friend (who was raising his own Achatina fulica)
that
> it is illegal to import them into Canada, supposedly because of
problems
> with them becoming pests. We both thought this law was unreasonable,
since
> there is nowhere in our country that doesn't drop below zero degrees
during
> the winter. My question to you all is: Does anyone know what
temperatures
> Achatina can live through? Would they survive the Canadian winter, or
is
> this another example of a law passed by people who know nothing of the
facts?
>
> Peter Egerton
> Shivering in Canada
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Peter Egerton, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
> Collector of worldwide Mollusca, lifetime student
> of zoology and computers.
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> Step into my website:
> http://www.intergate.ca/personal/seashell/index.html
> (includes "Seashells of British Columbia", links and my resume)
>         -Links to add, remove, alter?  Just ask!
>         -This is an on-going project.
>         -Suggestions always welcome :-)
> -------------------------------------------------------
>