U.S. Bans Giant Snakes

You will no longer be able to purchase or transport four giant snakes in the United States.  That’s because the Burmese python, the Yellow Anaconda and the Northern and Southern African Pythons are massive constrictor snakes that have become increasingly present in the swamplands of the Florida Everglades.

Those snakes can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200 pounds and threaten indigenous species.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says, “They’ve been found to kill and swallow animals as large as deer and alligators, and they threaten all the work being done to restore the Everglades to its natural ecosystem.

Some of the large snakes have devoured deer, even eating alligators. And a pet python is blamed for the death of a two-year-old girl in Sumter County.

Some say the ban doesn’t go far enough. The Humane Society of America says, “These four species represent only 30 percent of imports of the nine species identified as posing a significant risk to the environment by the U.S. Geological Survey.”

Supporters say it’s a step in the right direction to saving lives and the environment.