Overview

• AI-enabled cameras watch the enclosures and alert licensed contractors, who then capture and euthanize exposed snakes.
• The University of Florida designed the animatronic rabbits, which require no daily care and were introduced after four years of using live rabbits in the field.
• Authorities say it is too early to judge effectiveness, and they will consider wider deployment if results warrant.
• The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are conservatively tens of thousands of Burmese pythons in the Everglades, with studies linking them to steep native mammal declines.
• Florida continues parallel efforts including paid contractor removals, Python Patrol training for the public, and July’s Python Challenge, where 934 participants removed more than 294 pythons.