Burmese Python

Burmese Pythons

Burmese Python Invasion

The Florida Everglades is infested with Burmese pythons. To keep them from spreading, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making it illegal to import the pythons into the country, or transport them across state lines. Scientists have discovered the pythons are doing more damage than ever imagined.

Burmese Pythons have been slithering around south Florida for decades, but scientists now say that they are eating their way through the swamps. Areas in which there are fewer pythons there are more mammals.

Accoridng to the United States Geological Survey, Burmese pythons are moving up the east coast and beginning to invade other states. However, the United States Association of Reptile Keepers consider the python invasion to purely be an Everglades problem.

Fast Facts:

Type:

Reptile

Diet:

Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:

20 to 25 years

Size:

16 to 23 ft (5 to 7 m)

Weight:

Up to 200 lbs (90 kg)

Protection status:

Threatened

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man: