Burmese Python In The Florida Everglades

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The Burmese python is one of the five largest species of snakes in the world . It is native to a large variation of tropic and subtropic areas of South and Southeast Asia. Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of Python molurus, but now is recognized as belonging to a distinct species.
They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees. Wild individuals average long, but have been known to reach .
Description
Burmese pythons are dark-colored snakes with many brown blotches bordered in black down the back. The perceived attractiveness of their skin pattern contributes to their popularity with both reptile keepers and the leather industry. The pattern is similar in colour, but different in actual …show more content…
They can be found in grasslands, marshes, swamps, rocky foothills, woodlands, river valleys, and jungles with open clearings. They are good climbers and have prehensile tails.
Invasive species
Python invasion has been particularly extensive in South Florida, where a large number of pythons have made their way to the Everglades. It has been suggested that the current number of Burmese pythons in the Florida everglades has reached a minimum viable population and become an invasive species. More than 1,330 have been captured in the Everglades. The importation of Burmese pythons was banned in the United States in January 2012 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
A 2012 report stated that "in areas where the snakes are well established, foxes and rabbits have disappeared. Sightings of raccoons are down by 99.3 per cent, opossums by 98.9 per cent, and white-tailed deer by 94.1 per cent." Bird and coyote populations may be threatened, as well as the already-rare Florida panther. and household …show more content…
In February 2008, USGS scientists published a projected range map for the US, based on average climate data of the snake's home range and global warming projections, which predicted that by the end of the 21st century, these snakes could migrate to and flourish in as much as a third of the continental United States, including all three coasts. However, a subsequent study produced a map incorporating both climatic extremes and averages which projected that the Burmese python's range as limited to southern Florida. Also, this projection was criticized in an unsigned Axcess News article as not having been peer-reviewed. Burmese pythons kept throughout winter in an experimental enclosure in South Carolina all died during the study, apparently because they could not properly acclimate to the cold, but most survived extended periods at temperatures below those typical of southern Florida.
Recently published data contradicts the initial USGS study which claimed that non-native Burmese pythons could expand as far north as the southern third of the United States. The Burmese python will remain in the Everglades. Furthermore, other reputable herpetologists have commented on the controversial theory positing future migration past the Florida
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