Why is the FWC allowing the taking of conditional reptiles (including Burmese pythons) on certain wildlife management areas (WMAs) in South Florida?
The nonnative Burmese python has spread throughout the southern Everglades. Since it has few natural predators in Florida, its numbers have grown into the thousands in South Florida, and it has preyed on native wildlife, including the federally endangered Key Largo woodrat. The FWC manages three public lands on the python’s northernmost range and believes that offering licensed hunters the opportunity to euthanize Burmese pythons and other conditional reptiles will help eradicate these invasive, nonnative species from Florida and prevent their northern movement.
