snowgyre
Well-known member
The Ringneck Pheasant does not have a large impact on native prairie fowl, especially in northern states. The pheasant does not do well in the severe winters of the northern US, hence why pheasant farms are necessary to propagate a huntable population.
But I digress.
I am pursuing my PhD at the University of Georgia. I work with wildlife biologists who do research in the Everglades and in the Keys. Let me assure you that Burmese Pythons in particular are having a profound impact on the native wildlife in the subtropical regions of Florida.
I was recently chatting with another graduate student studying a highly endangered small mammal species, the Key Largo Woodrat (list of imperiled, endangered, and threatened FL species . The population for this species is less than 2000 animals. Burmese Pythons were recently introduced to this island, and this graduate student has killed 4 pythons, each of which had individuals of this endangered mammal in its gut. One snake had two! This graduate student sincerely believes that the species he is studying will be extinct well within the next decade primarily due to the introduction of this snake.
Here is a recent article (2006) that updates the list of invasive reptile species in Florida. It is important to note that Nile Monitor is now established, which does not bode well for any native fauna.
Here is the status of 48 reptile species from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Red-tailed Boas are suspected to have an impact on birds and small mammals, but any kind of direct population study is difficult in such remote habitat like the Everglades. Burmese Pythons are now breeding and their population is increasing.
Additional publications in scientific and nonscientific literature will undoubtedly be written in the next few years as the impacts of these snakes are more understood. Being a wildlife biologist myself, I sincerely believe that steps do need to be taken in Florida and other southern states that can host these species. This is not a divide and conquer routine, this is common sense. Invasive species are a huge problem in the New World and elsewhere. Chinese privet, kudzu, European Starlings, Burmese Pythons, Fire Ants, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Beech Scale Insect, Gypsy Moth... the list goes on and on. We honestly need to take steps to protect our native wildlife. I'm just not convinced that this particular legislation is the right step, since potentially limiting the nationwide ownership of these three huge genera is unreasonable.
But I digress.
I am pursuing my PhD at the University of Georgia. I work with wildlife biologists who do research in the Everglades and in the Keys. Let me assure you that Burmese Pythons in particular are having a profound impact on the native wildlife in the subtropical regions of Florida.
I was recently chatting with another graduate student studying a highly endangered small mammal species, the Key Largo Woodrat (list of imperiled, endangered, and threatened FL species . The population for this species is less than 2000 animals. Burmese Pythons were recently introduced to this island, and this graduate student has killed 4 pythons, each of which had individuals of this endangered mammal in its gut. One snake had two! This graduate student sincerely believes that the species he is studying will be extinct well within the next decade primarily due to the introduction of this snake.
Here is a recent article (2006) that updates the list of invasive reptile species in Florida. It is important to note that Nile Monitor is now established, which does not bode well for any native fauna.
Here is the status of 48 reptile species from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Red-tailed Boas are suspected to have an impact on birds and small mammals, but any kind of direct population study is difficult in such remote habitat like the Everglades. Burmese Pythons are now breeding and their population is increasing.
Additional publications in scientific and nonscientific literature will undoubtedly be written in the next few years as the impacts of these snakes are more understood. Being a wildlife biologist myself, I sincerely believe that steps do need to be taken in Florida and other southern states that can host these species. This is not a divide and conquer routine, this is common sense. Invasive species are a huge problem in the New World and elsewhere. Chinese privet, kudzu, European Starlings, Burmese Pythons, Fire Ants, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Beech Scale Insect, Gypsy Moth... the list goes on and on. We honestly need to take steps to protect our native wildlife. I'm just not convinced that this particular legislation is the right step, since potentially limiting the nationwide ownership of these three huge genera is unreasonable.
