Invasive Burmese Pythons In Florida May Have Finally Met Their Match: GPS-Tracked Opossums
Scientists in Florida have found an unexpected tool in the fight against invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades: opossums wearing GPS collars. When a python eats a collared opossum, the tracking device keeps transmitting — from inside the snake.
Here is how the strategy works. Scientists fit opossums — one of the pythons’ favorite prey — with small GPS tracking collars and release them in areas where the snakes are known to hunt. When a python swallows one of these collared opossums whole, the GPS collar survives inside the snake and continues sending a signal. That gives researchers a live location they can follow to track down the invasive predator. Conservation teams then move in to remove and euthanize the python.
The method is now helping conservation teams across South Florida locate and remove more Burmese pythons as the invasive snakes continue damaging native wildlife across the region.
Scientists Stumbled Onto This By Accident
Nobody designed this approach on purpose. Scientists discovered the tracking method in 2022 while studying the movement and behavior of small mammals along Florida’s southern coast. Researchers had placed GPS collars on opossums and raccoons to track where the animals traveled. When a python swallowed one of the tagged animals, the collar kept transmitting from inside the snake — and researchers realized they could follow the signal to locate the python, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
What began as a routine small-mammal study quickly became a python-removal strategy. Because opossums are among the pythons’ preferred prey, the accidental discovery turned out to be a practical, repeatable method for locating invasive snakes.
The discovery came as python populations continue damaging native wildlife across South Florida, making new detection methods critical.
Researcher Michael Cove told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 2023, “We need everything that we can find to remove as many pythons as possible.”
Cove, along with researcher A.J. Sanjar and other conservation teams, expanded the effort to help locate and euthanize invasive pythons on a broader scale across the region.
What the Pythons Have Done to the Everglades
Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Florida Everglades and have established a permanent breeding population in South Florida, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. They were introduced through the exotic pet trade in the late 1900s, often through escaped or intentionally released pets. The first recorded wild Burmese python in South Florida was documented in 1979 in Everglades National Park, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Since then, the snakes have become top predators in the ecosystem and have severely reduced native mammal populations. Burmese pythons have reduced raccoon populations by 99%, opossums by 98% and bobcats by 88%, contributing to major ecological disruption in the Everglades, according to researchers and wildlife officials.
The Florida Museum of Natural History notes that since arriving in Florida, Burmese pythons have also introduced harmful non-native parasites and reduced medium-sized mammal populations by more than 90%, significantly changing the Everglades ecosystem.
The heaviest python ever caught in Florida weighed 215 pounds and measured 18 feet long. It was captured in 2022 in Naples by a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The longest Burmese python ever captured in the state was recorded in July 2023 and measured more than 19 feet, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Burmese pythons also continue expanding their range in Florida, with the U.S. Geological Survey reporting that their spread can be measured in miles per year in some regions.
The Opossum Program Is Scaling Up — with Some Pushback
The GPS-collar program is growing. Researchers hope to have at least 40 GPS-collared opossums in the field by later this summer. Because opossums are common prey for Burmese pythons, scientists expect some of the animals will eventually be eaten, turning them into indirect tracking devices for the snakes.
Some criticism has emerged over using live animals this way. Wildlife officials, however, say the opossums are not being placed in additional danger. The animals already live in an ecosystem where pythons are actively hunting them. The GPS collars simply allow scientists to document what is already happening — and use that information to locate and remove the snakes.
Jeremy Dixon told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on April 19, “We’re not putting these animals out there and in harm’s way. Harm’s way is there. We’re just documenting what’s happening.”
Researchers hope the GPS-collared opossum strategy will help slow the ecological damage by improving how quickly they can locate and remove pythons before the snakes continue spreading deeper into Florida.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
