News
Scientists Sending Robotic Rabbits to Tackle Growing Python Problem in Florida’s Everglades
Florida’s swamplands are crawling with too many fearsome pythons that are causing havoc with the ecosystem by gobbling all the raccoons and possums — so now, scientists are fighting back by sending in an army of robot bunnies, another of the serpents’ favorite snacks, to help capture the crushing critters, per New York Post.
Burmese pythons are not natural to the state, but have been multiplying — well, like rabbits — in the swamps since the 1970s. They can grow to 18 feet in length and swallow a whole deer, and have become the top predator in the swamplands.
No one knows how many are living in the Everglades, but more than 19,000 have been caught and removed since 2000.
The robot bunnies are equipped with cameras that monitor for pythons and alert South Florida Water Management District officials when one is spotted, so someone can be dispatched to the area to remove the predator.
In addition to snacking on rabbits, the pythons feast on possums and raccoons and have nearly wiped out those species.
According to a 2012 study by the United States Geological Survey, only 1 or 2 percent of the original raccoon and possum populations are left in the Everglades.
