The Nature of Things

Exotic Species Invade, and Prevention Is Tough

By Tom Palmer
tom.palmer@theledger.com

In 1984 I wrote an article about a pair of pet pythons, one of which was pregnant, that had escaped from their cages and were last seen wandering the wilds around Poinciana.

I asked a snake expert about the possibility that the pythons might breed in the wild and become a problem.

Not this far north, I was told.

I was also told by state wildlife officials that there were no known cases in which pythons or other large constrictors had survived and bred in Florida.

It seems the snakes had other ideas.

There is now a breeding population of Burmese pythons, which are large and long lived, in Everglades National Park. Nile monitor lizards are breeding uncontrolled in the Cape Coral area.

This year state wildlife officials, who in the past had only lightly regulated nonvenomous captive reptiles other than prohibiting their release into the wild, finally decided enough was enough and decided new rules were in order.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will hold a workshop today from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Kissimmee Civic Center, 201 E. Dakin Ave.

The proposed new rule requires owners of larger, potentially dangerous reptiles to permanently implant a computer chip under the animal's skin. The proposed rule also will require people who want to buy these reptiles to prove they know how to take care of them and have facilities to keep them that are secure and sturdy enough to prevent them from escaping. The rule takes effect Jan. 1, 2008.

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