In 1955, Hawaii released cannibal snails. Native tree snails paid the price

In 1955, wildlife officials in Hawaii released a meat-eating "cannibal" snail to control an invasive pest. But the plan went terribly wrong. Instead of eating the pest, the predator turned on the islands' rare native tree snails, pushing them close to total extinction, reports NPR.What was meant to be a simple pest control idea quickly turned into a huge disaster for nature. Today, scientists are working around the clock to protect Hawaii’s last remaining native snails from the killer hunter humans brought in seven decades ago.Known locally as kāhuli, these colorful tree snails were once so common in Hawaii that old stories say they hung from trees like Christmas ornaments.