In Florida is open the big hunt python after that in recent years more and more tiger pythons have spread into the Everglades, a subtropical marshland region of Florida. The authorities gave the green light to the hunting of big snakes, creating a very special contest: the "Python Challenge 2013." From last Saturday, and for a month, everyone can become hunters of the "monstrous reptiles" with guns, knives and machetes.
The last August, in Everglades National Park, had been found in a Burmese python 5.17 meters in length and weighing 74 kg, the largest snake species ever found in the state of the southeastern of the United States. The autopsy also revealed that the Burmese python, one of the nine species of constrictor snakes, brought inside 87 eggs, another record. Florida, and in particular the Everglades, has become home to a growing population of Asia pythons.
Here the environmental conditions are in fact ideal for these animals, now firmly established in the fragile ecosystem. In short, a real plague, now the authorities have decided to fight, in part, with a special competition.
The goal of the competition is in fact to kill more tiger pythons possible. Two categories provided: general and professional hunters. In the end, the one who breaks down the largest specimen will awarded a prize of $ 1,000. The hunter who will arrive after 30 days with more dead snakes, however, will be rewarded with $ 1500. More than 800 hunters came from 30 states to participate in the "Python Challenge". The registration fee: $ 25. But from the competition are excluding the minors.
Harsh criticism from animal rights activists such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), which stigmatize the event as "cruel act." The state of Florida justifies the competition, explaining that the rapid spread of snakes is seriously endangering the ecosystem. The recommended method for killing pythons is the same as what happens when you want to kill a zombie: a gunshot to the head.
- Tags: Python Challenge 2013 Davie Florida Hunters competition Everglades subtropical_marshland_region Everglades_National_Park Burmese_python southeastern PETA People_for_the_Ethical_Treatment_of_Animals
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