At the top of Mount Kaputar in New South Wales, Australia, lives an incredible species of slug that glows a fluorescent pink color. These slugs only exist on that single mountaintop, which is why conservationists had every right to worry about their survival when the Australian bushfires burned through the Mount Kaputar area for more than six weeks.
But last week, we got to hear good news from Wildlife Service rangers, who reported spotting around 60 of the colored Mount Kaputar slugs, which can grow to a size longer than a human hand, after recent rainfall. Apparently, some of the fluorescent slugs managed to survive because they had “retreated into rock crevices” when the flames came near.
Estimates suggest around 90 percent of the slug’s population might have perished in the fires, but considering the prospect of full extinction, we’re grateful to hear that this curious species of slug will live on.
