Burmese pythons threaten to 'swallow' Florida

Imported into the US for pets, Burmese python proliferate, becoming a powerful invasive species and seriously affecting the ecological balance in Florida state.

Talking about Florida carnivores, crocodiles are often thought of, but in fact, the new Burmese python is the most influential animal in the state.

Last week, a giant python, 5.18m long and 63kg heavier, was discovered in southern Florida. It is worth mentioning that this Burmese python is carrying 73 eggs.

Burmese pythons are not native species in North America. However, the number of this type has increased rapidly to the extent that it endangers the natural environment, causing serious ecological imbalance.

The 17-foot Burmese python was captured in early April at the Tiger Creek Nature Reserve in southern Florida.(Photo: AFP.)

"I wish we could remove this species, but I think they have built a strong foothold," said Cheryl Millet, manager of Tiger Creek Conservation Area in Florida.

New Florida beast

With the natural tropical climate, the state of Florida, especially Miami, is one of the centers of exotic pets in the United States. People here can breed salamanders, lizards and other reptiles including Burmese pythons instead of dogs and cats.

For Burmese python owners, when they bought it, the animals were only half a meter long and weighed less than 1kg. In a short time, it will be up to 2m, 3m and 4m and weigh tens of kilograms. Not wanting to continue taking care of giant animals, and not being used to meat them, many people released them naturally.

With favorable weather conditions, as well as no rival in Miami, Burmese pythons reproduce quickly, due to their impressive fertility with up to 100 eggs at a time. Burmese python is thought to cause some native mammals in southern Florida like foxes and rabbits to completely disappear. Other types such as deer, ferrets, cat bears, lynx and birds have reduced the number by 90%.

The reason for this decline, according to experts, is that natural animals seem to lack the instinct to flee giant pythons. Cat bears and weasels do not consider pythons a threat to them because no snake has eaten their ancestors in the past 18 million years in Florida.

The belly hunter of a python was harvested in May 2018 in the Florida state of Homestead.Burmese pythons can lay up to 100 eggs at a time.(Photo: AP).

Victims of Burmese pythons are not the only animals. In 2009, a 3-meter house python killed a 2-year-old girl in northern Florida. Police later discovered that the python was starved for days, and its two owners (including the victim's mother) were sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Can not control

Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, the Obama administration issued a ban on trafficking and transporting Burmese pythons in 2012. However, the Florida state government is still struggling to find an effective way to pull. reduce the amount of this type in nature.

Many experts believe that the greatest hope is that a cold air spill over Florida could cause this tropical animal to die massively.

Meanwhile, hunting measures do not yield the expected results. The Florida government held a prize-winning python competition for hunters, but as a result, only a few dozen were caught, a fraction too small for an estimated hundreds of thousands of children. of this species in nature.

Besides, it is not easy to hunt reptiles that possess this masterful instinct. Mrs. Millett said Tiger Creek Conservation Area has tried to use special dogs to search for python, which is initially effective, but every dog ​​needs employees to go along and the training process for them becomes too expensive. least.

The Florida Wildlife and Fisheries Commission even opened a free python training class for the people, and offered cash rewards for every python the people caught.

Each person will be paid 50 USD for a python 4 feet (1.2 m) long and for each foot (30 cm) longer, the hunter will be awarded an additional 25 USD. A hunter received $ 400 when he caught the 18-foot (5.4-m) python in December 2018.

Professional hunter John Hammond in Florida, next to the 18-foot (5.45 m) python body, earned him $ 400.(Photo: USA Today).

Carol Lyn Parrish, a spokeswoman for the conservation committee, which runs the state's python program, said it also partnered with professional hunters to help reduce the number of these invasive animals.

Some scientists argue that if the situation is not controlled, Burmese pythons will invade one-third of the US area, even if they can appear in New York City by 2100. However, there are also houses. Other scientists believe that such a thing will not happen, because pythons can only survive in hot weather.

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