Wildlife specialists in Southwest Florida lately snagged 500 kilos of Burmese pythons – together with yet another than 16 toes lengthy, after discovering a big mating ball of the snakes not removed from the town of Naples.
The Collier County catch got here this month throughout National Invasive Species Awareness Week, in response to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and marked what the Miami Herald known as a reported report for the environmental advocacy organization that has labored for a decade to take away the invasive snakes from the area.
The group caught 11 pythons weighing a complete of 500 kilos, in response to its Facebook web page.
“For 10 years, we’ve been catching and putting them (Burmese pythons) down humanely,” conservatory wildlife spokesperson Ian Bartoszek wrote in the post. “You can’t put them in zoos and send them back to Southeast Asia. Invasive species management doesn’t end with rainbows and kittens. These are remarkable creatures, here through no fault of their own. They are impressive animals, good at what they do.”
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The snakes are non-native, invasive and trigger ecological disturbance
The Sunshine State, the group stated, is home to hundreds of non-native species of vegetation and animals.
“When these launched species reproduce within the wild and trigger financial, social, or ecological disturbance, they attain invasive standing,” the group wrote.
Burmese pythons are invasive and damaging
The Burmese python’s influence in South Florida is properly documented − a lot the state holds an annual hunt for the non-native species in that area.
There the snakes thrive and eat the whole lot, however nothing usually eats them main the United States Geological Survey to don the pythons some of the regarding invasive species in that area − particularly Everglades National Park.
According to the federal company, since 1997, the pythons have been the reason for drastic declines in raccoon, opossum and bobcat populations.
“The mammals which have declined most importantly have been often discovered within the stomachs of Burmese pythons faraway from Everglades National Park and elsewhere in Florida,” the science bureau posted on its webpage.
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Contributing: Julia Gomez
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and comply with her on X @nataliealund.
This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Massive ball of invasive Burmese pythons present in Southwest Florida
