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Aug 1, 2009 7:46 pm US/Eastern
Zookeeper Gives Inside Look At Burmese Python
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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This captured Burmese python measured 17 feet.
FWC
Two days after a Burmese python was caught in Okeechobee County, Miami Metrozoo's Ron Magill explains that in most cases they're harmless, but it's best to stay away if one slithers across your path.
"Here they don't have natural predators in the wild and they have a protected national park, hundreds of thousands of acres, where these animals can survive and thrive," he said. "The bottom line is, we're going to have to live with pythons for the rest of our lives."
On July 17, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission launched a permit program allowing reptile experts to capture and euthanize Burmese pythons on state-managed lands around the Everglades. There are 100,000 roaming through the state park.
To date, seven permits have been issued and five pythons have been captured. Several more permits will be issued in the coming weeks.
The permit holders must collect data on captured pythons and submit that information to the FWC.
The program continues until Oct. 31, when the commission will analyze the data and determine if the program should be extended or expanded.
But Magill doesn't favor the new program.
"They're out there like these big rodeo cowboys and they're going to go out and catch all of these pythons? Are you kidding me?" he said.
The latest example of how the program works was put to the test on Thursday when workers found a 17-foot, 207-pound Burmese python in Okeechobee County. That python was destroyed.
Magill stresses that Burmese pythons are relatively harmless.
"Listen, if anyone sees a python, best thing to do is turn around and go the other way," he said. "There's no such thing as a python that's going to come chasing after you."
Click here to learn more about Burmese pythons.
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