Florida tackling python problem with hunting contest# Animals - 动物园
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http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/us/florida-python-hunt/?hpt=us_c1
Florida tackling python problem with hunting contest
Miami (CNN) -- Burmese pythons have been threatening Florida's ecosystem for
years, so the state is turning to the public for help in the form of a
hunting contest to cull the population.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced the 2013
Python Challenge beginning in January.
"We are hoping to gauge from the python challenge the effectiveness of using
an incentive-based model as a tool to address this problem," says Florida
Wildlife Commission spokeswoman Carli Segelson.
A grand prize of $1,500 will be awarded to the person who kills the most
pythons, and $1,000 will go to the person who bags the longest one.
According to the rules, road kill will not be eligible.
Participants will pay a $25 registration fee and complete an online training
course. The training focuses on safety while hunting pythons.
"It's very difficult to find these animals and we don't really have a good
strategy on how to contain this population," said Linda Friar, spokeswoman
for Everglades National Park. "This is a pilot to see if it will gain public
interest in areas that you can hunt so that they would be able to remove
and capture these snakes."
The Burmese python is native to Southeast Asia and was first found in the
Everglades in 1979, according to researchers at the University of Florida.
These snakes were determined to be an established species in 2000. It is
believed that the snakes were originally pets that found their way into
Everglades National Park.
The Everglades, known as the river of grass, is a vast area with a climate
perfect for the pythons to hide and thrive. And thrive they do: The largest
Burmese python ever found in Florida -- its 17 foot, 6-inch carcass weighed
164.5 pounds -- was harvested in the Everglades in August. Researchers at
the University of Florida found 87 eggs inside the snake.
Friar told CNN earlier this year that it is believed "tens of thousands" of
Burmese pythons live in the Everglades.
The snakes prey on native wildlife such as the endangered Key Largo wood rat
and the endangered wood stork. The largest prey, Friar told CNN, was a 76-
pound deer that was found in the stomach of a 16-foot python a few months
ago.
Earlier this year, researchers at Virginia Tech University, Davidson College
and the U.S. Geological Survey reported that populations of rabbits and
foxes have disappeared and numbers of raccoons, opossums and bobcats have
dropped as much as 99%.
In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instituted a ban on the
importation of Burmese pythons -- along with three other species of exotic
snake -- and their eggs.
The Python Challenge has laid out four specific areas where the snakes can
be harvested, and the park is off-limits to the general public.
"The park is very restricted on what it can do as far as animal captures and
removal," Friar said.
The python problem has spread to other wildlife management areas in the
state besides the Everglades.
"We're supportive of the state exploring various measures in order to reduce
the populations outside the park," Friar said. In the end, she said, "it
will also reduce the population of the snakes that get into the park."
According to the rules of the contest, reducing the population means killing
the snakes.
"We want to make sure this is done in a humane way," Segelson said. The
competition's website lists several ways to kill a python "in a humane
manner that results in immediate loss of consciousness and destruction of
the brain."
It suggests shooting the snake in the head with a firearm or decapitating it
with a machete.
Wildlife officials say the 2013 Python Challenge is not only about killing
snakes. "One of things that is very important to us is to educate the public
about the Burmese python and how this species is impacting the state of
Florida," Segelson said.
"We're hoping to inform people ... if they do have exotic pets that they
understand the importance of not releasing them into the wild."
The contest begins January 12 and ends at midnight on February 10.
Florida tackling python problem with hunting contest
Miami (CNN) -- Burmese pythons have been threatening Florida's ecosystem for
years, so the state is turning to the public for help in the form of a
hunting contest to cull the population.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced the 2013
Python Challenge beginning in January.
"We are hoping to gauge from the python challenge the effectiveness of using
an incentive-based model as a tool to address this problem," says Florida
Wildlife Commission spokeswoman Carli Segelson.
A grand prize of $1,500 will be awarded to the person who kills the most
pythons, and $1,000 will go to the person who bags the longest one.
According to the rules, road kill will not be eligible.
Participants will pay a $25 registration fee and complete an online training
course. The training focuses on safety while hunting pythons.
"It's very difficult to find these animals and we don't really have a good
strategy on how to contain this population," said Linda Friar, spokeswoman
for Everglades National Park. "This is a pilot to see if it will gain public
interest in areas that you can hunt so that they would be able to remove
and capture these snakes."
The Burmese python is native to Southeast Asia and was first found in the
Everglades in 1979, according to researchers at the University of Florida.
These snakes were determined to be an established species in 2000. It is
believed that the snakes were originally pets that found their way into
Everglades National Park.
The Everglades, known as the river of grass, is a vast area with a climate
perfect for the pythons to hide and thrive. And thrive they do: The largest
Burmese python ever found in Florida -- its 17 foot, 6-inch carcass weighed
164.5 pounds -- was harvested in the Everglades in August. Researchers at
the University of Florida found 87 eggs inside the snake.
Friar told CNN earlier this year that it is believed "tens of thousands" of
Burmese pythons live in the Everglades.
The snakes prey on native wildlife such as the endangered Key Largo wood rat
and the endangered wood stork. The largest prey, Friar told CNN, was a 76-
pound deer that was found in the stomach of a 16-foot python a few months
ago.
Earlier this year, researchers at Virginia Tech University, Davidson College
and the U.S. Geological Survey reported that populations of rabbits and
foxes have disappeared and numbers of raccoons, opossums and bobcats have
dropped as much as 99%.
In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instituted a ban on the
importation of Burmese pythons -- along with three other species of exotic
snake -- and their eggs.
The Python Challenge has laid out four specific areas where the snakes can
be harvested, and the park is off-limits to the general public.
"The park is very restricted on what it can do as far as animal captures and
removal," Friar said.
The python problem has spread to other wildlife management areas in the
state besides the Everglades.
"We're supportive of the state exploring various measures in order to reduce
the populations outside the park," Friar said. In the end, she said, "it
will also reduce the population of the snakes that get into the park."
According to the rules of the contest, reducing the population means killing
the snakes.
"We want to make sure this is done in a humane way," Segelson said. The
competition's website lists several ways to kill a python "in a humane
manner that results in immediate loss of consciousness and destruction of
the brain."
It suggests shooting the snake in the head with a firearm or decapitating it
with a machete.
Wildlife officials say the 2013 Python Challenge is not only about killing
snakes. "One of things that is very important to us is to educate the public
about the Burmese python and how this species is impacting the state of
Florida," Segelson said.
"We're hoping to inform people ... if they do have exotic pets that they
understand the importance of not releasing them into the wild."
The contest begins January 12 and ends at midnight on February 10.
