Ban on Exotic Snakes to Protect Native Birds

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may ban the importation or sale of large exotic snakes such as pythons and boas. It has authority to do this under the Lacey Act.

Long-lived snake species with high reproductive output, such as the Burmese python, have great potential to proliferate rapidly, and quickly expand from their place of introduction. They represent a potential ecological and economic disaster with the capacity to quickly overtake even the most far-reaching eradication efforts to protect endangered species. Recently released climate maps by the U.S. Geological Survey indicate that the Burmese python could find extensive suitable habitat, comparable to the size of its native range in Asia, in the southern one-third of the lower 48 States. Should these snakes become more widely established they will further exacerbate the threat they already pose to the health and abundance of many bird species.

According to a recent study of the stomach and lower gastro-intestinal tracts of 56 Burmese pythons captured in or adjacent to Everglades National Park, 50 were found to have eaten many bird species, including Anhinga, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Limpkin, King Rail, Purple Gallinule, Great Blue Heron, White Ibis, Red-winged Blackbird, Virginia Rail, Great Egret, Magnificent Frigatebird, Clapper Rail, and House Wren. The White Ibis and Limpkin are Florida Species of Conservation Concern, and the King Rail and the Clapper Rail are on the ABC/Audubon WatchList of species in need of immediate conservation attention.