- Burmese pythons were introduced to Florida as pets in the 1980s.
- Some pythons were released or escaped into the Everglades.
- In the Everglades, Burmese pythons have no natural predators, allowing their population to thrive.
- As python numbers increased, mammal populations in the area began to decline significantly.
- By 2012, raccoon and opossum populations decreased by approximately 99%.
- Foxes and certain rabbit species were also nearly eradicated.
- Initial skepticism existed regarding the pythons' role in the mammal population decline.
- Researchers conducted studies on python stomach contents, revealing that 75% were mammals.
- A separate study used radio transmitters on rabbits, finding that 77% of the tracked rabbits were killed by pythons.
Burmese Pythons in the Everglades
In the 1980s, Burmese pythons were brought to Florida as pets. Some of these pythons ended up in the Everglades. The snakes have no natural predators in this ecosystem. They were able to thrive. As numbers of the snakes rose, the populations of mammals decreased. By 2012, numbers of raccoons and opossums were reduced by about 99 percent. Foxes and some types of rabbits were nearly wiped out.
Some people doubted that the pythons were responsible for the decline in mammals. However, researchers studied the stomach contents of pythons. They found that 75 percent of the stomach contents were mammals. Another study attached radio transmitters to rabbits. Researchers learned that 77 percent of the rabbits studied were killed by the pythons.
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