Conservancy of Southwest Florida removes record 8,080 pounds of Burmese pythons in breeding season

Wildlife biologists in Collier County removed 177 Burmese pythons this breeding season, totaling over 8,000 pounds of snakes, the most since the program began 13 years ago.

Ian Bartozsek, a wildlife biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, said, "It just turned out to be an exceptional breeding season for pythons for whatever reasons."

Bartozsek explained that tagging 40 male scout snakes helped locate breeding females before they could lay eggs.

"This method we've developed of tracking male snakes to find female snakes is pretty effective of finding these high-value targets off the landscape, off the roads and levees and deep in conservation lands and on the edge of the urban wildland boundary," Bartozsek said.

This season, over 4,000 Burmese python eggs were also removed.

Bartozsek said, "I think the future landscape will be some genetic-based technique. But in the meantime, no one has been able to come in this lab, show us a more reliable way to target these high-value target females here and remove them from the system."

Since 2013, the Conservancy’s python research and removal program has removed 1,750 pythons weighing more than 53,000 pounds from Southwest Florida. The program has also contributed to 25 collaborative scientific publications focused on Burmese python biology and behavior.

Residents can help protect Everglades native wildlife by reporting Burmese python sightings and remaining nearby until a wildlife responder arrives. In Collier County, call 1-888-Ive-Got-1 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. After hours, call 911.