Burmese Pythons In The Everglades Essay Example

A Burmese Python population began to devastate the Florida Everglades in the late 1980s, creating a disastrous eco-system and destroying the food chain. In the presence of declining populations of smaller mammals, the effects ripple up the food chain and native predators such as alligators and Florida panthers lose their primary food sources. In order to restore balance to the Everglade ecosystem, Florida lawmakers had to relax their regulations on hunting down this invasive species. Private parties were allowed to hunt on public and private land without a hunting license or permit. 

A group of Burmese Pythons from Southeast Asia were originally responsible for destroying the Florida Everglades. The Burmese python was brought into the United States as a exotic pet. Since the exotic pet trade grew rapidly in Miami in the 1980s, thousands of snakes became available as pets. The fact that pythons can grow to such unmanageable sizes makes it inevitable that irresponsible owners will release them into the wild. In the first paragraph, it states that “These massive snakes, which can grow to 20 feet long or more, with telephone-pole-sized girths, have all but decimated the region’s small- and medium-sized mammal population, wreaking havoc with the area’s ecosystem.” Which led to the question as to why this invasive species was released into the wild Florida Everglades.

Due to the fact that female pythons can lay 50-100 eggs per year - with no naturally occurring predators around - threats from them are continuing to increase. Since the late 1980s, Burmese pythons have destroyed the Everglade ecosystem. By becoming the apex predator, it will be changing the food chain. Resulting in the decimation of the everglades' mammal population, thus threatening its biodiversity. In a study, it states at paragraph 9 that “between 1997 and 2012 the Everglades’ raccoon, opossum and bobcat populations dropped 99.3, 98.9, and 87.5 percent respectively.” This led to legislators taking action and eliminating the cause of Florida's Everglades ecosystem's demise. 

Given the Burmese python's highly recognized negative impacts on the Everglades ecosystem. Florida lawmakers were forced to loosen regulations on hunting this invasive species. Despite limitations and guidelines when it comes to humane hunting, hunters are not required to obtain a permit or license to work. Upon recognizing the python's destructive spread, state and federal authorities began cooperating in an effort to eradicate its population. In many cases, these efforts resulted in programs to decrease the negative impacts of this invasive species. As stated in paragraph 14, “Then in 2017, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the SFWMD introduced the Python Elimination Program, which hires people to hunt the swamps for snakes. These “python removal agents” are generally paid minimum wage, plus additional fees per foot—sometimes up to hundreds of dollars per snake.” This could secure the future of eradicating the damage that the Burmese python had done.