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Ms Spencer said the state is trying to improve detection of pythons in the wild because they are capable of camouflaging and settling in remote areas.
“We need to try more than one method, more than one way, to try to control these animals,” he said.
Burmese pythons were introduced to the Everglades in the 1980s by the exotic pet trade industry, but their sale was banned in 2012, said Stephen Leatherman, professor of earth and environment at Florida International University in Miami.
The people who kept pythons didn’t always know what to do with them when they got too big to be managed, and many have released them into the wild. The Burmese python has since replaced the Florida alligator as the largest predator in the Everglades.
Mr Leatherman said Burmese pythons are endangered in parts of Southeast Asia, but those who make their home in Florida simply cannot be returned as they have been genetically adapted to their new environment. As pythons demand more land, populations of raccoons, rabbits, rats, birds, and crocodiles in wetlands have declined, along with deer and panthers.
“They’re fascinating animals, but they’re the worst thing in the Everglades,” he said.
Covering 1.5 million acres in South and Southwest Florida, the Everglades is a one-of-a-kind freshwater ecosystem surrounded by sawgrass, with a slow-flowing river in the wet season. According to the National Park System. Its habitats include cypress swamps, wet meadows and mangroves with a variety of bird, mammal, reptile and plant species. According to the National Wildlife Federation.
Steve A. Johnson, professor of wildlife, ecology and conservation at the University of Florida, said the Burmese python is just one of the threats that endanger this natural resource. Other invasive species such as the tegu lizard and cane frog, as well as water pollution, rising sea levels and urban development, are affecting wetlands.
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