Hawaiian land snail documentary ‘Kāhuli’ broadcast nationwide on PBS

Despite being some of the rarest, slowest-moving creatures on Earth, the kāhuli (Hawaiian land snails) are popping up in living rooms across the country.

Their sudden appearance is due to a new episode of the Pacific Heartbeat series produced by local nonprofit Pacific Islanders in Communication and broadcast nationally by the Public Broadcasting Service.

The hour-long episode, titled “Hawaiʻi’s Precious Resources,” combines three short documentary films that feature natural and cultural resources in Hawaiʻi.

Most of that runtime is comprised of “Kāhuli,” a half-hour film by director Chris A. Johns that explores the efforts of the Snail Extinction Prevention Program at the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Bishop Museum Malacology Program.

In the film, biologist Dr. David Sischo, with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said: “I think people look to the mountains and they think our native snails are up there. But the animals aren’t there. They’re being erased.”

The film follows snail experts from the department and Bishop Museum across the mountains of Hawaiʻi as they search, sometimes in vain, for remaining populations of native Hawaiian land snails. Of roughly 750 species to evolve here in Hawaiʻi, an estimated 60% have already gone extinct due to predation and changing climates.

When the team does find snails, they are sometimes brought into a laboratory to provide a predator-free, climate-controlled environment in which they can reproduce. In 2020, more than 7,000 snails raised in captivity were released back into forests.

In addition to highlighting the technical work done to keep these species from extinction,
the film explores the emotional toll of working with endangered species in Hawaiʻi. Team
members describe their reluctance to give up the search for potentially extinct snails, as well as the feeling of cultural loss associated with the decline of a species that features
heavily in oli, mele and hula.

As department biologist Kūpaʻa Hee says in the film: “It’s heavy. It’s heavy for a Hawaiian.”

The hour-long episode “Hawaiʻi’s Precious Resources” also features two shorter films:
Kumu Niu, highlighting the role of niu (coconut) as an indigenous food source, and “After
the Endling,” a mixed-media story of the last Achatinella apexfulva snail. The films are
directed by Alex Cantatorre and the National Association of State Foresters, and by
Daniel A. Kelin II, respectively.

The episode is available for streaming now on the PBS website, and is slated for more than 600 broadcasts nationwide.

Snail enthusiasts can find links to stream Kāhuli and the rest of the “Hawaiʻi Precious Resources” episode on our Year of the Kāhuli webpage, along with other educational opportunities and information about Hawaiʻi’s snails.