Report: Five foreign snake species threaten U.S.
MIAMI (AP) – Watch out, animals of South Florida: It’s a wild world out there. There are five species of foreign snakes just waiting to eat you.
More troublingly, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report released Tuesday, nonnative snakes like the Burmese python could slither their way north from the warm, humid conditions of South Florida.
The big snakes threaten native species and ecosystems because they mature and reproduce quickly, travel long distances and can eat almost anything in fur, feathers or scales, experts say.
The 302-page report could be a step toward a ban on importing constrictor-like snakes into the U.S., said Ken Warren, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s South Florida office. The FWC will now evaluate the report and seek public comment before recommending such a ban.
“In many aspects, the report confirms what we already knew: that these snakes are a problem and that they do pose some risk,” Warren said.
The report analyzed nine kinds of snakes. Five – Burmese pythons, northern and southern African pythons, boa constrictors and yellow anacondas – are of “high risk” to the ecosystems of the U.S., especially in Florida.
Four others – the reticulated python, Deschauensee’s anaconda, green anaconda and Beni anaconda – are considered medium risk to ecosystems.
Scientists are already studying where Burmese pythons can survive in the U.S. Seven are being studied in a natural enclosure in South Carolina to see if the tropical natives can live through colder winters.
The number of invasive pythons in South Florida and throughout Everglades National Park has exploded in the past decade to potentially tens of thousands, though wildlife officials aren’t sure exactly how many are out there.
Scientists believe pet owners have freed their snakes into the wild once they became too big to keep. They also think some Burmese pythons may have escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing ever since.