Conservancy of Southwest Florida Removes 6,300 Pounds of Invasive Burmese Python

Burmese Python (Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Headquarters)

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida announced on Monday that it has removed 6,300 pounds of the invasive Burmese python from the region this hunting season. With its achievement, the conservancy has removed more than 20 tons of Burmese pythons across a 200-mile area from Naples through the Western Everglades since 2013.

“We have been on the front line of the invasive python battle for more than a decade,” Wildlife Biologist and Conservancy Science Project Manager Ian Bartoszek said. “Removing more than 40,000 pounds of snake, carried out through some of Florida’s unrelenting wildlife habitats, is a heavy-lifting assignment. But, through years of dedicated research, we’ve developed science-based methods to track this apex predator more effectively and mitigate its damage to our native wildlife population.”

The conservancy credits its removal success to using male pythons known as "scout snakes." The scout snakes are tracked and tagged using radio telemetry to locate reproductive female pythons during the breeding season.

The science-based approach has stopped more than 20,000 additional python eggs from hatching since 2013, the conservancy said.

Burmese pythons are invasive to Florida, meaning they do not belong in its environment. Snake removal is critically important to the state's natural habitat, including the protection of birds and alligators in the Everglades.

“The Burmese python is decimating native wildlife across their invaded range. Here at the Conservancy, we also rehabilitate thousands of injured native animals in the von Arx Wildlife Hospital and release them back into the wild each year," President and CEO of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida Rob Moher said. "The python team’s work of reducing the local population of the invasive snake allows our native wildlife safer conditions to recover."

Adult Burmese pythons grow between 6 and 9 feet long, but some can reach over 20 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds. Due to their size, the snake has few natural predators, making their removal from Florida's environment even more important.

The conservancy has caught an 18-foot, 215-pound female python, one of the largest documented to date. It also captured a male python measuring 16 feet and weighing 140 pounds.

“Burmese pythons are impressive creatures that are here from no fault of their own,” Bartoszek added. “As wildlife biologists, we have tremendous respect for all snake species. However, we understand the impact invasive pythons are having on the biodiversity in our area, and we humanely remove them from the ecosystem as part of the Conservancy’s commitment to protecting our water, land, wildlife, and future.”