Researchers estimate there are nearly 30,000 pythons in the Florida Everglades, and most grow to be 8 to 10 feet long.
South Florida in the 1980s when people imported them as pets from Southeast Asia. Once these"pet owners" realized they couldn't take care of pythons as pets, they released them into the wild of the Everglades.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew swept through South Florida, ripping the roof off a breeding facility, any many escaped. The python, which is one of the five-largest snake species on Earth, began preying on other animals in the wild. They have been known to swallow 7-foot alligators and also a whole deer."They're actually eating possums, raccoon, rabbits, even bobcats," Bergeron said.
There are still nearly 30,000 pythons in the Everglades, according to researchers. Though they can grow beyond 20-feet long in their natural habitat, most in the Everglades are about 8 to 10 feet in length. State conservation agencies like the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have plans to eradicate as many pythons as possible.
"With the governor's leadership, the FWC, South Florida Water Management and Everglades National Park, we're going to continue to put this plan together and put more pressure on the pythons," said Bergeron, an eighth-generation Gladesman and board member for SFWMD."I've spent most of my life trying to save the Everglades so it's a great honor for me."
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