Mishap freezes to death 800 rare New Zealand snails (BBC)

Conservationists in New Zealand have blamed a technical glitch after 800 endangered giant land snails were accidentally frozen to death.

The rare snails, rescued from an area earmarked for coal mining, were kept in a temperature-controlled room run by the Department of Conservation (DoC).

However, a faulty gauge sent temperatures plunging below freezing.

Staff at the DoC's West Coast Conservancy in Hokitika are said to have been "very upset".

The Powelliphanta giant land snails were among 6,000 taken from the Stockton Plateau on South Island several years ago to make way for coal mining, New Zealand media reported.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15691701
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powelliphanta



A sad, and completely preventable, tragedy. All for the sake of coal.

Apparently, one particular species -- P. augustus -- has had its only natural habitat destroyed to make way for coal mining. ( http://www.mentedigitale.org/news/2011/07/powelliphanta-augustus-%E2%80%93-lumaca-carnivora-gigante/ http://www.rodmorris.co.nz/New-Zealand-Invertebrates/New-Zealand-Invertebrates/13888831_wkTcGr#1066699771_2jnjX )

:sarcasm:

(just saw this) :cry: