A drone has finally caught what’s killing Florida’s invasive pythons, and scientists didn’t expect this. For years, researchers watched the giant snakes vanish from certain areas without explanation.
In December 2022, biologists with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida found the body of a radio-tagged Burmese python in pinewoods near Naples. The male snake, known as Loki, had been part of their research program for more than six years. The team had checked on him days earlier and found him in good condition. When they followed his signal after a cold front moved through, the head and neck of…
After Florida drained a wetland, biologists made a baffling discovery deep in the exposed muck. The massive project, designed to reshape the landscape, revealed something they never expected lurking beneath the surface.
A recent drawdown at Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West in South Florida gave biologists an unusually clear look at the ecological state of the wetlands. When water levels were lowered for routine maintenance, the exposed marsh revealed a larger presence of invasive fish than researchers had anticipated. Among the native largemouth bass and bluegill, teams found significant pockets of armored catfis…
He slithered through swamp water, but Florida wildlife officers now warn this hunter does not chase rodents—it stalks humans. The invasive species, initially dismissed as another python threat, has triggered a statewide alert after documented encounters near residential canals.
In 2016, genetic testing confirmed that Nile crocodiles, a species not native to the Americas, had established a breeding population in the Florida Everglades. The discovery marked the end of a years-long investigation that began with sightings of unusually aggressive crocodilians in canals south of Miami. Researchers concluded that the animals were descendants of specimens brought into the state…
Florida removed a 60-year-old dam—then two dozen freshwater springs suddenly bubbled back to life. For decades, the concrete barrier had choked the river, silently burying natural springs beneath heavy sediment.
The Florida House of Representatives voted to approve the removal of the Rodman Dam, a structure that has separated two local waterways for decades. Conservation groups argue that the environmental benefits of removing the dam for the historic communities along the St. Johns River outweigh local concerns.The dam, also known as the Kirkpatrick Dam, was built in 1968 as part of the Cross Florida Bar…
Wildlife researchers in southern Florida faced an unexplained problem in the early 2000s: adult American crocodiles were disappearing from the mangrove channels where they had lived for years. These
Wildlife researchers in southern Florida faced an unexplained problem in the early 2000s: adult American crocodiles were disappearing from the mangrove channels where they had lived for years. These were not young or marginal animals. They were dominant individuals that occupied the best territories in the region, and boat captains who had worked the same waters for two decades could identify them…