Conservancy scores big win against Burmese pythons - most wanted invasive species in Florida

Naples Daily News

The new year is just over two months old, but already the Conservancy of Southwest Florida is putting an an impressive dent in the invasive Burmese python population.

The Conservancy posted on its Facebook page on March 1 that its scientists captured and humanely killed 11 pythons recently. The combined weight of the 11 snakes was a whopping 500 pounds. One of the snakes was 16-feet long.

The Facebook post was made during National Invasive Species week and underscored the decade-long efforts by the Conservancy to remove pythons from the environment. Pythons are wreaking havoc with the ecosystem in the Everglades and other places.

Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologist Ian Bartoszek poses with Burmese pythons that were humanely killed recently. The Conservancy was able to eliminate 11 of the invasive snakes, which were a combined 500 pounds.

How did Burmese pythons get to Florida and why are they a problem?

The Burmese python is a large, nonvenomous constrictor snake that is an invasive species in Florida. Burmese pythons were introduced to Florida via the pet trade and are now well established in the Everglades.

According to the Conservancy's Facebook post: Florida is home to thousands of non-native species of plants and animals. When these introduced species reproduce in the wild and cause economic, social, or ecological disturbance, they reach invasive status.

10 years of research, removal:What do we know about Florida pythons after a decade of research? A lot - and it's unsettling

Ian Bartoszek, from right, Jaimie Kittle, and Ian Easterling, lift a Burmese python into a container after capturing it along a tracking route at the edge of urban Collier Country along U.S. 41 East on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The science department at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida has a team of researchers dedicated to studying, tracking and capturing the Burmese python.

Other efforts to control or eliminate the python population include the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Python Patrol virtual classes. Every month the FSW holds a one-hour crash course on pythons, including how to find them and humanely kill the giant snake. It's one way to encourage the public to help reduce the population.

Florida Python Challenge helps reduce invasive snakes

The FWC also holds an annual "Florida Python Challenge" to drum up interest in humanely killing the beasts. In 2023, the competition began at midnight on Aug. 4 and concluded on Aug. 13 with more than 200 snakes removed from the South Florida swamps. This brings the total number of pythons caught from challenge over the years now to nearly 1,000, which does not include the pythons captured by year-round hunters. The grand-prize winner received $10,000.

And some have wondered if a cold snap could help tame the population. Here is the answer.

Last year was historic for hunters and record python kills.

In November 2023, the second heaviest python ever caught in Florida weighed in at almost 200 pounds.
In July 2023, the longest python ever caught in Florida was measured at 19-feet long.

The snakes thrive and eat everything, but nothing eats them, leading the United States Geological Survey to name the pythons one of the most concerning invasive species in that region − especially Everglades National Park.

According to the federal agency, since 1997 the pythons have been the cause of drastic declines in raccoon, opossum and bobcat populations.

Conservancy Biologist Ian Bartoszek said in the Facebook post: “For 10 years, we’ve been catching and putting them [Burmese pythons] down humanely. You can’t put them in zoos and send them back to Southeast Asia. Invasive species management doesn’t end with rainbows and kittens. These are remarkable creatures, here through no fault of their own. They are impressive animals, good at what they do.”