Why aren’t there Burmese python cases south of Florida into South America, assuming the further south you go the better the climate for these constrictors! Would they not be considered as an invasive species and cause havoc to the local wildlife like lets say in Costa Rica
In: Biology
The problem with Burmese pythons in southern Florida is largely that they have nothing to control their population. Nothing eats them and nothing has had time to really develop defenses against them.
Further south, there are more animals like the Burmese python, so existing natural population control methods are in place. There is competition from others in the niche – big constrictors are already in those jungles and swamps. Jaguars are known to eat medium sized constrictors, and lots of things eat the eggs. Prey have adaptations to avoid being eaten.
But more to the point, the pythons would still need to get to these Central and South American regions somehow. The invasive population of pythons in Florida came from a boom in having them as pets and then people just dumping them in the swamps when they got too big. That’s not really happening in other areas.
Further, there isn’t really an easily navigable path from South Florida to, say, Guatemala or Venezuela for these snakes. Going north from the Everglades puts them into less habitable regions, and going any other direction is mostly open ocean – which they are not adapted to travel across, even if they are good swimmers.
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