Florida deploys robotic rabbits to remove invasive pythons from Everglades

Florida officials have deployed an innovative tool to fight against invasive pythons in the Everglades. They’re now using remote-controlled robotic rabbits to lure pythons out of hiding and remove them from the Everglades ecosystem through euthanization.

As of 2000, pythons have established a breeding population across South Florida, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS notes that an estimated 180,000 Burmese pythons were brought into the United States between 1975 and 2018. They were introduced to the wild either accidentally or through intentional releases. The snakes are now present across more than 1,000 square miles in South Florida.

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Harm to native animals

The snakes wreaked havoc on the region’s ecosystem, killing off native species like foxes, opossums, raccoons and eliminating food sources for panthers, bobcats and other native predators. According to a study in 2012, the raccoon population in Florida has seen a 99.3% decline since 1997, while opossums experienced a 98.9% decline and bobcats saw an 87.5% decline. Meanwhile, marsh rabbits, cottontail rabbits and foxes have essentially been eradicated, as found in a 2015 study.

Pythons are notoriously difficult to detect and capture. That’s why scientists from the South Florida Water Management District and the University of Florida are working together to use robotic rabbit decoys as one method to remove the pythons from an environment they were never meant to inhabit. 

Florida officials say the robots produce a heat signature and scent that attract the snakes. The robotic bunnies are also fitted with cameras that track pythons and alert officials when a snake is detected. Once alerted, the management district dispatches an official to the area, where they permanently remove the python. Forty of the waterproof, solar-powered rabbits have been strategically deployed. 

Other hunting efforts

This isn’t the first effort by snake hunters to eliminate the species. In 2020, officials sent out snake-sniffing detector K9s to capture pythons in South Florida.

Additionally, in 2022, University of Florida scientists put live rabbits in cages in the Everglades to attract the snakes. Over a three-month period, nine rabbits brought in 22 pythons, which led to the snakes staying in the area for more than an hour on average, as noted in the state report. 

Python prey such as rabbits, raccoons and opossums also have been fitted with trackers so that hunters can find the pythons after they’ve consumed the animals. 

State officials also hire bounty hunters to control the python population and have fitted tracking technology to male snakes to lead them to egg-laying females.

The problem is likely to remain

Biologists say it is unlikely that pythons will ever be truly eradicated from the ecosystem in Florida, despite a 2012 ban on their importation.

District officials say these efforts help protect the Everglades and Florida’s native wildlife. 

The USGS reports that at least 76 species have been found inside Burmese pythons over the past several decades, including birds, mammals, iguanas and even alligators. 

In 2022, scientists found a nearly 15-foot Burmese python in the middle of eating an adult white-tailed deer, as reported by ABC News. However, native animals have also been known to take the fight to pythons as well. There have been cases of alligators, cottonmouth snakes and bobcats killing pythons.