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Burmese Python Human Risk Assessment FAQs - 16 Found

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Is it possible to eradicate Burmese pythons or similar snakes once they have been introduced to the wild?

The odds of eradicating an introduced population of reptiles once it has spread across a large area are very low, pointing to the importance of prevention, early detection and rapid response. That being said, control or eradication of some invasive reptiles and amphibians may be possible, but few control tools are available. In the Everglades alone, state and federal agencies have spent several million dollars addressing threats posed by pythons; if these species spread to other areas, state and federal agencies in these areas could be forced to spend more money for control and containment purposes.

So far, no one has ever eradicated a snake from any area greater than a few acres in size through purposeful control measures, and few attempts have ever been made to eradicate a large species such as pythons. Scientists familiar with snake-eradication techniques suggest that if eradication is to be successful, it should be conducted when the snake population is still very localized, preferably inhabiting an area no more than a few acres in size. Unfortunately, snake populations are rarely detected until they have spread over a much larger area, such as has occurred with the Burmese python in Florida.

Ongoing research may provide new tools that may limit python population numbers and help prevent further spread. In the meantime, agencies such as the National Park Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, USGS, and others are actively testing and applying control and eradication techniques, including trap development, refinement of visual searching methods, and testing detector dogs for locating pythons. 

Tags: Pythons