US EditionRobot rabbits the latest tool in Florida battle to control invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades
- This summer, researchers from the University of Florida, in collaboration with the South Florida Water Management District, introduced 120 robotic rabbits into the Everglades to test a new method for managing invasive Burmese pythons.
- The project builds on previous attempts using live rabbits as lures, which became too expensive and time-consuming, prompting development of robot rabbits that mimic heat, smell, and movement.
- Pythons have established populations in the Everglades, decimating 95% of small mammals and thousands of birds, with females laying 50 to 100 eggs per gestation period of 60-90 days.
- Each robot costs about $4,000 and is solar-powered, remotely controlled, and monitored by cameras that alert researchers when pythons approach the pens, reflecting over a decade of research starting with a 2012 rabbit study.
- Officials call the project promising but in its infancy, emphasizing that every python removed benefits Florida's native wildlife and expressing confidence the method will improve with more time and detail refinement.
78 Articles
78 Articles
A South Florida water management agency is using robots that not only look like rabbits in Everglades National Park, but also move and smell like them, to lure Burmese pythons, giant invasive snakes that are wreaking havoc on native wildlife, out of hiding, The Associated Press reports.
How robot rabbits are saving the Everglades
Florida’s Everglades are teeming with gigantic, invasive snakes, but a fluffy, high-tech solution is poised to help. The state is turning to robotic stuffed rabbits to help trap invasive Burmese pythons, which are disrupting the state’s fragile wetland ecosystems and harming its native species by gobbling up food sources. Florida is regularly on the hunt for the pythons due to the threat they pose to the state’s furry fauna, much of which count …
Florida Is Using Robot Rabbits to Track Pythons
The concept of “Florida Man” has become ubiquitous by now, but what about “Florida Robot?” Or, to be more exact, “Florida Rabbit Robot”? This entity might not get into as many misadventures as its human counterpart, but it does have some interesting stories to tell about, well, hunting snakes.In a recent post on Instagram, the South Florida Water Management District explained why it was now working with small, cuddly robots. “These solar-powered…
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