Dear Helmut,
I have read your remarks with interest. If the global hothouse effect keeps
raising temperatures in Eorope at the current pace, then there is no
imminent danger of keeping living Achatina in a tropical terrarium in
Innsbruck, Vienna or wherever in your beautiful country. However, how long
remains a non-malacologist/conchologist fascinated by those slow moving,
silent creatures? More active  pets like slider turtles (Pseudemys), tiny
crocodiles and alligators, on sale all over Europe, are sooner or later
dumped in a nearby pond, stream or ditch. They will survive  summer
temperatures,  but towards the winter most will pass away in a terrible way
due to the fact that they have never learned how to cope with low
temperatures. However, their are far more dangers. Terrarium- and
aquarium-lovers are often members of international organizations and an
intensive trade and exchange system exists between them just as is the case
in the malacological-conchological world.
Living Achtina's don't have to be imported from Africa, a tropical Asiatic
country or a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, you can get them much
easier by means of your friends in Europe. There are indications that at
least part of the Achatina fulica snails, recently discovered in Israel,
were acquired from pet dealers in Western Europe.
However, also in a land-locked and often cold country like Austria, tropical
animals are able to establish themselves under natural circumstances.
Austria is proud of its famous hotsprings like Voslau, Villach and Fischau.
They are also well-known for their endemic fauna elements. However, during
the past thirty years they have been turned into tropical aquaria, because
so-called aquarium-lovers dumped their surplus fish and snails in those
vulnerable biotopes. Not only tropical fish species are swimming around at
this moment in those thermal springs but also introduced snails like
Melanoides tuberculata, Pomacea spec., Gyraulus chinensis, Planorbella duryi
and Pseudosuccinea columella, leading to extinction of some of the local
endemic species. This happens not only in Austria but almost everywhere. We
can reduce such events by not sending live material abroad without the
proper licences. By the way the accidental introduction and subsequent
spread of the American Lymnaeid species Pseudosuccinea columella has boosted
enormously the occurrence of the Giant liverfluke Fasciola gigantea in sheep
in New Zealand.
Concerning Pomatias elegans: large parts of North America harbour suitable
habitats for this interesting European landsnail, however, these habitats
are already occupied by indigenous New World species. So if you like to send
living Pomatias for scientific purposes to James or anybody else in the
States, then I advise you to do it only via the proper channels i.e. with
permits supplied by the USDA.
Best regards,
Henk K. Mienis
National Mollusc Collection
Dept. Evolution, Systematics & Ecology
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
IL-91904 Jerusalem, Israel
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

----- Original Message -----
From: helmut nisters <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2001 9:28 AM
Subject: AW: Re: AW: Re: Tropid


> Dear Kobie, dear Conchlers,
>
> Yes indeed I asked Kobie for a few living Achatina species, but not for
me,
> but for somebody in
> America (I don't tell you the name for reasons of protection), who wanted
> to breed these
> species, as that persons asked me where to get large landsnails for
> breeding. I think it is really
> better not to send such species out of Africa (they maybe can survive on
> the postal way, but
> of introducing them in other countries). In Germany a few persons I think
> do also keep
> Achatina species living and they don't worry about so much that. If you
> feel that I also should not
> send Pomatias elegans to James, I will not do this, but at the moment I
> can't see reason why not.
> He can study them at home in his house and he must not leave in the
> opening. The only thing
> is that only the customers will open a parcel, but I don't believe it. I
> can pack these landsnails
> well that they are will survive the mailing.
> Please any further opinions and hoping to hear from you soon as possible.
> with best shelling greetings.
> Helmut from Innsbruck
>
>
>
> Helmut "Helix" Nisters
> private:
> Franz-Fischer-Str. 46
> A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
> phone: 0043 / 512 / 57 32 14
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> website: www.netwing.at/nisters
> office:
> Natural History Department of the
> Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck
> Feldstrasse 11a
> A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
> phone: 0043 / 512 / 58 72 86 - 37
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> website: www.tiroler-landesmuseum.at
>
> ----------