A Florida Congressman has introduced a bill that would ban the importation of 8 different types of snakes that are invasive in the Florida Everglades. These snakes are overrunning the native species and destroying the biodiversity that has made the Everglades so unique. They also caused the death of a 2 year old girl last year. The bill is supported by the Human society but a pet interest groups is against the bill.
It is good to know that the national government is recognizing the devastating local impacts that invasive species can have. The fact that Burmese pythons, among other snakes, are destroying the ecosystems in the Everglades really doesn't have that much effect on our lives here in Kentucky but I think we would all agree that the spread of those snakes should be stopped. As we have learned in class invasive species cause billions of dollars in damages every year in the US and have devastating environmental impacts that cannot really be repaired. The government can send out hunters to track down these dangerous snakes, like they did in the video we watched after Thanksgiving break, but the roundup only captured about 100 snakes and you are never going to be able to fully eradicated the snakes. The first step in making sure invasive species don't come into our country is outlawing the legal and intentional immigration of them by owners who either don't understand the impacts these species can have in the wild or don't care. I hope this bill passes and it seems like a non partisan issue that won't face too much debate or criticism in the Senate.
Fleshler, David. "Bill banning import of pythons, other snakes moves to Senate."
Kentucky.com. 06/12/2009. Web. 10 Dec 2009.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a tough issue, i wonder how effective the bill could be but it is of course better than nothing. It seems like it is a no-brainer to illegalize transportation of invavise species since they are estimated to cost our country billions of dollars in damage. It is also scary to know that even manually removing the pythons is useless. I think we must attack this issue on all fronts even if they are individually ineffective.
ReplyDeleteThis just shows how ignorant people are to life outside of themselves. There is so much proof on how destructive invasive species are, and people are still fighting it for personal luxuries. The import of these snakes costs money, and can really devastate the native species. Once they are here, the damage is irreversible. We can't remove them, and just trying can cost millions of dollars and waste a lot of time. Even the death of a child can't make people rethink. It just amazes me.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a bill like this should be passed. Not only does it cost millions each year, but it is also destroying some of our most biodiverse ecosystems in the U.S. Even if you don't care about the environment, the invasive pythons in Florida have already killed a kid, and if that isn't enough to get you to care then I don't know what will.
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