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The East African land snail Achatina fulica is a herbivore in the family Achatinidae. This is a very large snail species: its shell length can reach more than 20 cm.
This is one of the most problematic invasive species in the world. It has been accidentally or deliberately introduced to many other areas of the world, where it now represents a very serious threat to agriculture, to native ecosystems, and also to local snails as a food competitor.
The flesh of this species is edible, and in the Western world it is sometimes kept as a pet, but it is under strict quarantine in some countries, (for example the United States), where keeping it as a pet is illegal because of the danger of accidental introduction into the wild.