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BY JASMINE BAILEY
ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE
Seventeen feet is about the length of a Lincoln Towncar or a fishing boat — but what about
a snake? WOFL has details about the largest Burmese Python ever found in Florida.
“Seventeen feet long — 17 feet 7 inches. Weights almost 165 pounds and produced 87
eggs — this thing was a foot wide.”
The Burmese Python species is native to southern Asia and arrived to the United States through
the exotic pet industry. When a snake gets too big, many owners dump it in the everglades
— and now the Burmese Python has become an invasive species in Florida. But this new
discovery may have many benefits — International Business Times has the quote.
“Florida Museum herpetology collection manager Kenneth Krysko said ‘By learning what this
animal has been eating and its reproductive status, it will hopefully give us insight
into how to potentially manage other wild Burmese pythons in the future. It also highlights
the actual problem, which is invasive species.’”
Scientists did find a bird inside the python’s belly — but as CNN reports, there are lots
of animals that fall below the Burmese Python on the food chain.
“Some everglades species are disappearing, and disappearing quickly. (Flash) Rabbits
and foxes gone, raccoons and possums down nearly 99%.”
University of Florida research shows the python population in the everglades could be in the
hundred- thousands. So how has the population grown so large?
Currently the snake has no known predator and poisons and traps could potentially harm
other animals in the ecosystem. As Australia’s News Network reports— Florida authorities
have banned the importation of the Burmese Python and now allow them to be hunted. But
those efforts have been of little help.
The massive python will be exhibited on the University of Florida campus for five years
before returning to the Everglades National Park.