Page 12 - IAV Digital Magazine #625

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Robot Rabbits The Latest Tool In Florida Battle To Control Invasive Burmese Pythons In Everglades
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnMOMGVbsCM
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Pythons are not native to Florida, but have become estab- lished in the swampy, subtropical Everglades by escap- ing from homes or by people releasing them when they become overgrown pets. A female python can lay between 50 and 100 eggs at a time with a gestation period of 60-90 days, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
It's not easy to find definite estimates of the number of pythons in Florida. The U.S. Geological Survey recently reported a ballpark number of “tens of thousands,” while other official esti- mates run as high as 300,000 snakes. They have few natural ene- mies, although there are occasional con- frontations with alliga- tors, and other preda- tors, such as bobcats and coyotes, will eat their eggs.
Since 2000, more than 23,000 of the snakes have been removed from the wild, the wildlife com- mission says. The robot rabbits are the latest attempt to tack- le snakes that aver- age between 10 and 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) in
length when fully grown.
“Every invasive python that is removed makes a dif- ference for Florida's environment and its native wildlife,” said Ron Bergeron, a member of the water district governing board.
Pythons can be humanely killed year- round on private lands and on lands managed by the wildlife commission across the state.
Each year the com- mission holds
a “Florida Python Challenge” that car- ries cash prizes for most pythons caught, the longest snake and so forth. This year, 934 people from 30 states took part in the effort in July, captur- ing 294 pythons with a top prize of $10,000 to a participant who bagged 60 of the rep- tiles.
It's too early to deter- mine how successful the robot rabbit proj- ect will be, but offi- cials say initial results are a cause for opti- mism.
“This part of the proj- ect is in its infancy,” Kirkland said. “We are confident, though, that this will work once we are given enough
time to work out some of these details.”
Curt Anderson and Cody Jackson
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — They look, move and even smell like the kind of furry Everglades marsh rabbit a Burmese python would love to eat. But these bunnies are robots meant to lure the giant invasive snakes out of their hiding spots.
It's the latest effort by the South Florida Water Management District to eliminate as many pythons as pos- sible from the Everglades, where they are decimating native species with their voracious appetites. In Everglades National Park, officials say the
snakes have eliminat- ed 95% of small mammals as well as thousands of birds.
“Removing them is fairly simple. It's detection. We're hav- ing a really hard time finding them,” said Mike Kirkland, lead invasive animal biolo- gist for the water dis- trict. “They're so well camouflaged in the field.”
The water district and University of Florida researchers deployed 120 robot rabbits this summer as an experi- ment. Previously, there was an effort to use live rabbits as snake lures but that became too expen- sive and time-con- suming, Kirkland said.
The robots are simple toy rabbits, but retro- fitted to emit heat, a smell and to make natural movements to appear like any other regular rabbit. “They look like a real rabbit,” Kirkland said.. They are solar powered and can be switched on and off remotely. They are placed in small pens monitored by a video camera that sends out a sig- nal when a python is nearby.
“Then I can deploy one of our many con- tractors to go out and remove the python,” Kirkland said.
The total cost per robot rabbit is about $4,000, financed by the water district, he
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