Researchers in Florida track down invasive pythons by strapping their prey with GPS collars

Researchers are fitting location-tracking collars on species like raccoons and opossums that the predatory snakes prey on in order to more effectively locate, trap, and eradicate invasive Burmese pythons in Florida's Everglades, as reported by the Guardian.

Burmese python populations have increased recently in south Florida as a result of many snake owners releasing their pets into the wild as they become too largeto manage.

The small animal population takes the brunt of the huge snake's appetite because those pythons in particular may grow up to20 feet or longer.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Researchers at Southern Illinois University, Crocodile Lake, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences did not plan on capturing the pythons in Florida when they filed their initial funding proposals.

ALSO READ |What was once thought to be a textile tool may be a 2,000-year-old Roman 'sex toy'

The purpose of the study was to investigate, using GPS collars, how additional food sources, such as abandoned garbage dumps and feeding stations for feral cats, may affect the movement and behaviourof small and medium-sized mammals.

But in September 2022, they noticed unusual behavior coming from a possum's GPS collar, and they later discovered that a 112-foot 62-pound Burmese python had devoured the possum.The researchers used the signal from the collar to successfully catch the snake, which was underground.

ALSO READ |Duesseldorf patient cured of HIV; third person in four decades to recover from the disease

“We always knew it was a possibility and that it had the potential to be flashy and scale up as a means of python removal from the environment,” said Michael Cove, a research curator at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences who spoke to the Guardian.

A few months after their initial capture, the crew successfully captured a 77-pound female python that had preyed on a raccoon The snake was eventually euthanised. And yet, obstacles encountered along the route have helped researchers identify improvements to make to their future plans to broaden the capture technique.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: