Alongside battling invasive species such as the Melaleuca quinquenervia paperbark tree, and the Asian needle ant, Florida wildlife officials are also continuing efforts to reduce the number of invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades, deploying high-tech bunnies to help with the job. Burmese pythons, which can grow up to 20 feet long, are thought to have established a breeding population in the Everglades after pet pythons escaped or were released into the wild in the early 1980s. The snakes have been decimating local mammal populations, eating animals such as rabbits, raccoons, gray foxes, and opossums. There are even recorded cases of the pythons eating the Everglades’ most famous and fearsome creature, the alligator.
In a bid to reduce the number of Burmese pythons slithering around the Everglades, officials are now using robotic rabbits. Banish from your mind the image of cyber bunnies hopping around the Everglades, hunting down snakes and taking them out like some kind of elite military robot. Instead, each one is set up in a small clear-walled enclosure several feet from the ground, with the furry robot’s appearance, plus simulated odor and body heat, designed to attract the pythons. Rather than hopping, the only movement the rabbit makes is the occasional swivel on a platform inside the box.
Studies of python behavior have found them to be ambush predators, lying in wait for prey to come within striking distance. Helpfully, this patience gives the robotic rabbit time to detect the nearby predator and send an alert to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). A nearby trapper then receives location information on their smartphone, enabling them to catch the snake and euthanize it.
Using tech to stop the python population spreading
The project involving the robotic rabbits is the result of a collaboration between the University of Florida, SFWMD, and Rewyld, which is helping with the technology powering the robot. With an estimated 300,000 pythons in the Everglades between the counties of Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade, the project aims to reduce that figure and prevent the python population from spreading…