The state is working to improve the detection of pythons in the wild, as they have been able to disguise and settle in remote areas, Ms Spencer said.
“We have to try a lot of methods, a lot of ways to try to control these animals,” she said.
Burmese pythons were introduced to the Everglades in the 1980s by the exotic pet industry, but were banned from sale in 2012, said Stephen Lederman, a professor of land and environment at the International University of Florida in Miami. .
The people who held the pythons did not always know what to do with them when they became too large to control, and many released them into the wild. The Burmese python has since taken the place of the Florida-born alligator as the largest predator in the Everglades.
Burmese pythons are endangered in parts of Southeast Asia, Mr Lederman said, but those who have made their home in Florida cannot simply be returned because they have become genetically adapted to their new environment. Populations of raccoons, rabbits, possums, birds and alligators in wetlands have declined along with deer and panthers as pythons have claimed more territory.
“They are adorable animals, but they are just the worst thing for the Everglades,” he said.
The Everglades region, which covers 1.5 million acres in South and Southwest Florida, is a unique freshwater ecosystem surrounded by grass, with a slow-flowing river during the wet season, according to the national park system. Its habitats include cypress swamps, wet prairies and mangrove forests, with various species of birds, mammals, reptiles and plants, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
The Burmese python is just one of the threats to this natural resource, said Steve A. Johnson, a professor of wildlife, ecology and conservation at the University of Florida. Water pollution, sea level rise and urban development, in addition to other invasive species such as the Daegu lizard and the reed frog, affect wetlands.
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