Burmese pythons have eaten so many small mammals in Everglades National Park that populations of rabbits and foxes have disappeared and numbers of raccoons, opossums and bobcats have dropped as much as 99%, according to a report released Tuesday by researchers at Virginia Tech University, Davidson College and the U.S. Geological Survey.
“Pythons are wreaking havoc on one of America’s most beautiful, treasured, and naturally bountiful ecosystems,” said U.S. Geological Survey Director Marci McNutt in a statement.
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“Right now, the only hope to halt further python invasion into new areas is swift, decisive, and deliberate human action,” McNutt said.
Burmese pythons are native to southeast Asia, their range extending from southern China to the Malay Archipelago, according to the National Zoo. The snakes reach breeding age in four to five years and a female lays an average of 35 eggs during the spring breeding season, though one snake may lay up to 100. Burmese pythons can live as long as 30 years.
In their native range, the snakes are considered threatened and are hunted by humans for their meat and skins, according to the National Zoo.
Does anyone have any idea why markets aren't solivng this? A shortage in native hunting areas, a surplus in non-native protected areas, external impacts from an invasive specie…someone's missing an opportunity.
Can I assume this is a regulatory problem?
or am I just a cynic…
*Ross Perot**
**It's fun to throw in a Ross Perot quote every once in a while.
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