The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is encouraging Mount Kaputar visitors to send in pictures of the area’s famous giant pink slugs through its Slug Sleuth app.
Senior Project Officer at NPWS, Adam Fawcett said the slugs were part of the Mount Kaputar Land Snail and Slug Threatened Ecological Community (TEC), a group of 20 snail and one slug species that existed nowhere else in the world.
“While the pink slugs have become the pin-ups of this TEC, the snails are also fascinating, with some being only as big as a pin head,” Mr Fawcett said
“Recently we conducted a search to see how the slugs and snails were faring after the summer bushfires,” he said.
“While we recorded good numbers of our snail species and could see evidence of recent slug activity with their distinctive feeding trails, the slugs did give our surveyors the slip.”
Mr Fawcett said the Slug Sleuth app could be very helpful in ensuring the slugs survival.
“By snapping shots of the slugs on the app, it’s hoped we can track the health and status of the ecological community across Mount Kaputar National Park,” he said.
“The information collected will help improve our knowledge of where the threatened ecological community occurs, its recovery post-fire, preferred habitat and assist with ongoing conservation efforts.”
He said the Slug Sleuth App was developed as part of the Saving our Species program and was free to download for both iOS and Android devices.
