Burmese Pythons in Florida
The Burmese python, a large, non-venomous constrictor native to Southeast Asia, has been sighted and captured with increasing frequency in the Everglades and is generally labeled an invasive species. Their range is expanding, though the eventual limits are still disputed, and efforts are underway to control or eradicate them.
Timeline
While isolated individuals, probably recent releases or escapees, have been reported since the 1980s, the numbers captured since 2000 have shown a dramatic increase. However, the increase in python captures in the Everglades may be due to an increase in search effort in recent years. A severe winter in early 2010 is believed to have killed a large number of the snakes, but there are currently no publications suggesting this significantly reduced the overall population. The incident has brought in to question the possibility of cold snaps helping to propagate a more cold-resistant population by weeding out less cold-hardy individuals. 2011 also produced evidence of cold-killed Burmese pythons, and the largest snakes appear to be most vulnerable.
Origin
While the origin of this snake in the Everglades is unknown, blame has fallen on pet owners thought to have abandoned the snakes once they reached unmanageable sizes. An alternative theory states that a specific holding warehouse filled with newly imported Burmese pythons was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, releasing the snakes en masse in a single area. Genetic studies using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite genotyping have only been able to determine that the population in Everglades National Park is not genetically structured which could be explained by several hypotheses. --Wiki
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Topic: The Burmese Python (Read 3060 times)