New rules for exotic animals better late than never

New rules for exotic animals better late than never

 Invasive animals already breeding and spreading

Residents who own reptiles that are not native to Florida can now give up their pets without facing a penalty, instead of releasing them into the wild. Releasing animals such as iguanas and pythons, is a "significant pathway for the introduction of nonnative species" says the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Pythons are already breeding in the Everglades and a  report by the U.S. Geological Survey suggested Burmese pythons could spread into other areas to the north and west.

Not be mention, very illegal.

The commission adopted the new rules on Wednesday that set up a series of pet amnesty events so pet owners can surrender their unwanted pets to wildlife agencies or individuals instead of illegally releasing them.

But some in the state say the new amnesty events are "like closing the barn door after the horse is gone" and wonder if it comes to late to stop the growing populations of pythons and giant lizards in the southern part of the state from possibly spreading to other areas.

Pythons are already breeding in the Everglades and scientists are now looking for signs of a breeding population exists in Collier-Seminole.

"If we do have, we've got a fight ahead of us," park biologist Maulik "Mo" Patel said.

Unlike pythons and despite their scary looks, iguanas are relatively harmless.

The first python in the Everglades National Park was found dead on U.S. 41 in 1979. The first baby python was found in 1995, and rangers found the first nest of python eggs beneath an overturned wheelbarrow in 2006.

Based on the density of Burmese python populations at a national park in India, researchers estimate there could be at least 30,000 pythons crawling around the park.

They are a threat to the Florida food chain feeding on everything from bobcats to birds. The discovery a couple years ago of a python that had burst open after swallowing a whole alligator raised concerns to a new level.

A report by the U.S. Geological Survey suggested Burmese pythons could spread into other areas north and west of Florida. Based on comparisons of U.S. climate to that of the python's native terrain in southeast Asia, the USGS said the giant snakes could live in 32 states. A recently published study finds that invasive pythons are unlikely to spread quite that far beyond Florida.

Like pythons, iguanas were introduced as pets. But unlike pythons and despite their scary looks, iguanas are relatively harmless. They are vegetarians, but they do eat foliage and can cause problems by burrowing. And they can grow to about six feet.

Florida Fish and Game officials said the iguanas are simply nuisance animals, and it's up to individual cities or landowners to run them off or trap them.

Nile Monitor lizards are another story.

Nile Monitors are aggressive and eat almost anything.

This species grows up to 7 feet long and can weigh over 50 pounds. They are aggressive and eat almost anything including ducks, rabbits, and fish. Biologists have observed monitors decimating populations of gopher tortoises, burrowing owls, and larger burrowing mammals as well as bird nests.

Unfortunately, Nile monitors are extremely adaptable, and live in a wide range of habitats including forest, savannah, woodland, bush land, thickets, scrub, swamps, mangroves, lakes and rivers. Their only major requirement is water.

Most introduced invasive species undergo four classic stages in their invasion: 1. introduction; 2. establishment; 3. naturalization and dispersal; and 4. pest status. The purpose of controlling them immediately upon invasion is to stop them from naturalizing and displacing native animals, eventually disrupting the equilibrium of ecosystems.

The next amnesty day event will be held at the Jacksonville Zoo on November 22. Another one will take place in Miami in early 2009.