It could be the largest wild Burmese python ever seen outside of Southeast Asia.
TOM HALE
Senior Journalist
IFL Science
Jun 22, 2022
Researchers Ian Bartoszek (left), Ian Easterling, and intern Kyle Findley (right) transport the record-breaking female Burmese python to their lab in Naples, Florida, to be laid out and photographed. Photograph by Maggie Steber, National Geographic
The largest Burmese python ever seen in Florida has been found, measuring over 5 meters (almost 18 feet) from tail to snout and weighing a crushing 97 kilograms (215 pounds), as reported by National Geographic.
Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) have made themselves at home in the balmy swamps of south Florida. However, as their name suggests, this is an invasive species whose native home is across the world in Southeast Asia.
It’s believed the species were introduced to Florida in the 1970s, likely from the exotic pet trade. The population was then boosted in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew wrecked a serpent breeding facility, releasing an unknown number of pythons into the wild.
In recent years, monster-sized pythons tipping 5.2 meters (17 feet) have been documented in and around Florida's Everglades, but this discovery is said to be a record-breaker. Back in 2020, two Florida hunters captured a Burmese python that measured 5.7 meters (18.75 feet), but that individual weighed substantially less at 47.2-kilograms (104-pounds)
In fact, it appears to be the largest ever example of a Burmese python ever seen outside of its natural range in Southeast Asia.
The new record-breaker was discovered when a team of Conservancy of Southwest Florida tracked down the vast female python with the help of a male tagged up to a GPS tracking system.
Conservationists often use this method to track down large females, who tend to be very reproductively active, in a bid to control this invasive species. Once the giant female was located, it was (carefully) put in a tub and taken back to the lab where it was chemically euthanized under veterinary supervision. When biologists were brought to see the specimen, they could hardly believe their eyes.
“When he opened the freezer,” Kristen Hart, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and a collaborator with the conservancy team, told National Geographic. “I definitely had a jaw-dropping moment.”
Jun 22, 2022
Researchers Ian Bartoszek (left), Ian Easterling, and intern Kyle Findley (right) transport the record-breaking female Burmese python to their lab in Naples, Florida, to be laid out and photographed. Photograph by Maggie Steber, National Geographic
The largest Burmese python ever seen in Florida has been found, measuring over 5 meters (almost 18 feet) from tail to snout and weighing a crushing 97 kilograms (215 pounds), as reported by National Geographic.
Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) have made themselves at home in the balmy swamps of south Florida. However, as their name suggests, this is an invasive species whose native home is across the world in Southeast Asia.
It’s believed the species were introduced to Florida in the 1970s, likely from the exotic pet trade. The population was then boosted in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew wrecked a serpent breeding facility, releasing an unknown number of pythons into the wild.
In recent years, monster-sized pythons tipping 5.2 meters (17 feet) have been documented in and around Florida's Everglades, but this discovery is said to be a record-breaker. Back in 2020, two Florida hunters captured a Burmese python that measured 5.7 meters (18.75 feet), but that individual weighed substantially less at 47.2-kilograms (104-pounds)
In fact, it appears to be the largest ever example of a Burmese python ever seen outside of its natural range in Southeast Asia.
The new record-breaker was discovered when a team of Conservancy of Southwest Florida tracked down the vast female python with the help of a male tagged up to a GPS tracking system.
Conservationists often use this method to track down large females, who tend to be very reproductively active, in a bid to control this invasive species. Once the giant female was located, it was (carefully) put in a tub and taken back to the lab where it was chemically euthanized under veterinary supervision. When biologists were brought to see the specimen, they could hardly believe their eyes.
“When he opened the freezer,” Kristen Hart, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and a collaborator with the conservancy team, told National Geographic. “I definitely had a jaw-dropping moment.”
Researcher Ian Bartoszek sifts through dozens of proto-eggs while performing a necropsy on the female Burmese python. The team counted 122 of these “follicles,” another record-breaking tally. Photograph by Maggie Steber, National Geographic
Inside the python was just as intriguing for the scientists. Here, they found a record of 122 egg "follicles," proto-eggs of the python that have the potential to develop into eggs once fertilized. Her guts also contained the fur, hoofs, and other remnants of an adult white-tailed deer, which was likely the snake’s last meal.
As magnificent as the species may be, they cause real problems for local wildlife since they prey upon a variety of mammals, birds, and even alligators, causing havoc to local food chains and the ecosystem. No one has any idea how many Burmese pythons are in Florida, but state wildlife authorities have killed or removed over 15,000 pythons since 2000.
This record-breaking discovery goes to show how important conservationists in Florida feel it is to keep control of this colossal, but very dangerous, species.
“These pythons have the ability to totally alter the ecosystem, and I would say they probably already have,” said Hart.
For more on this story, visit: natgeo.com
Researchers capture largest python ever found in Florida at nearly 18 feet, 215 pounds
By Patrick Reilly
By Patrick Reilly
June 22, 2022
A team of Florida wildlife biologists captured the largest Burmese python ever discovered in the state, officials announced Thursday.
The gargantuan female serpent, considered an invasive species in Florida, measured nearly 18 feet long and weighed 215 pounds, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
The snake was caught last December in the Everglades following a 20 minute wrestling match with biologists, but researchers left the python in a freezer until April.
During a necropsy, the snake was found to have 122 eggs developing in its abdomen — breaking another record for the most eggs female python can produce in a breeding cycle, according to the conservancy
A team of Florida wildlife biologists captured the largest Burmese python ever discovered in the state, officials announced Thursday.
The gargantuan female serpent, considered an invasive species in Florida, measured nearly 18 feet long and weighed 215 pounds, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
The snake was caught last December in the Everglades following a 20 minute wrestling match with biologists, but researchers left the python in a freezer until April.
During a necropsy, the snake was found to have 122 eggs developing in its abdomen — breaking another record for the most eggs female python can produce in a breeding cycle, according to the conservancy
.
A group of Florida wildlife biologists captured the state’s largest Burmese python.
The News-Press-USA TODAY NETWORK
The last meal the python ate was seen to be a white-tailed deer.
The News-Press-USA TODAY NETWORK
“Hoof cores” found inside the snake’s stomach indicated that a white tailed deer was the beast’s last meal before it was caught. The deer is a primary source of food for the endangered Florida panther, the organization said.
National Geographic featured the historic capture, which is part of the conservancy’s python removal program that began in 2013.
“The removal of female pythons plays a critical role in disrupting the breeding cycle of these apex predators that are wreaking havoc on the Everglades ecosystem and taking food sources from other native species,” said Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and environmental science project manager for the Conservancy. “This is the wildlife issue of our time for southern Florida.”
“Hoof cores” found inside the snake’s stomach indicated that a white tailed deer was the beast’s last meal before it was caught. The deer is a primary source of food for the endangered Florida panther, the organization said.
National Geographic featured the historic capture, which is part of the conservancy’s python removal program that began in 2013.
“The removal of female pythons plays a critical role in disrupting the breeding cycle of these apex predators that are wreaking havoc on the Everglades ecosystem and taking food sources from other native species,” said Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and environmental science project manager for the Conservancy. “This is the wildlife issue of our time for southern Florida.”
The python weighed over 215 pounds.Conservancy of Southwest Florida
To date, the organization has removed over 1,000 pythons — over 26,000 pounds of snake — in a 100-square-mile area in southwestern Florida.
“These efforts are significant in fulfilling our mission of protecting Southwest Florida’s unique natural environment and quality of life by reducing the overall impact on our native wildlife populations,” Bartoszek added.
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The wildlife biologists captured the python through a unique research program that uses radio transmitters implanted in male “scout” snakes to lead biologists to breeding grounds where “large, reproductive females” can be removed to stop eggs from hatching in the wild.
“How do you find the needle in the haystack? You could use a magnet, and in a similar way our male scout snakes are attracted to the biggest females around,” Bartoszek said.
To date, the organization has removed over 1,000 pythons — over 26,000 pounds of snake — in a 100-square-mile area in southwestern Florida.
“These efforts are significant in fulfilling our mission of protecting Southwest Florida’s unique natural environment and quality of life by reducing the overall impact on our native wildlife populations,” Bartoszek added.
34
What do you think? Post a comment.
The wildlife biologists captured the python through a unique research program that uses radio transmitters implanted in male “scout” snakes to lead biologists to breeding grounds where “large, reproductive females” can be removed to stop eggs from hatching in the wild.
“How do you find the needle in the haystack? You could use a magnet, and in a similar way our male scout snakes are attracted to the biggest females around,” Bartoszek said.
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