Pythons squeeze out local species in South Florida

摘要

Giant snakes are eating their way through the Everglades, leaving a drastically changed ecosystem in their wake, a new study shows. The snakes, many of which measure 3 to 5 meters, are called Burmese pythons. But make no mistake: Virtually all of the estimated 30,000 living in southern Florida were born in the Everglades. Ecologists now report that populations of mammals have begun plummeting throughout the pythons' expanding range. And the timing of these mammal losses matches the geographic spread of the snakes, which federal officials believe were initially released into the wild in Florida by snake fanciers, probably 15 to 30 years ago.