AUBURN BIOLOGIST
AND ALUMNI SEEK
INVASIVE BURMESE
PYTHONS IN EVERGLADES
COMPETITION
A team led by Auburn University biologist David
Steen participated in the 2016 Python Challenge in
south Florida. The event, sponsored by the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and
the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida, was
geared toward eradicating the Burmese Python
from the region and raising awareness of the
serious consequences posed to the environment by
the invasive predators.
Competitors were tasked with finding and
capturing as many Burmese Pythons as possible
between January 16 and February 14. Top awards
went to the team with the most captured pythons
and the team that captured the longest python.
The search area consisted of 1.5 million acres of
swamp and sawgrass, terrain that provides easy
camouflage for the snakes. Although it is estimated
that as many as 100,000 Burmese Pythons inhabit
20
Journey/Spring 2016
the Everglades, approximately 1,000 people
participated and only 102 pythons were captured.
The reason for such a low number of captured
snakes is their superior camouflaging ability. Steen,
who received a doctorate in biological sciences from
Auburn in 2011 and is now an assistant research
professor in the university’s College of Sciences
and Mathematics, said his team utilized a variety
of hunting techniques to increase the chance of
locating and capturing pythons.
The team drove a vehicle, which allowed them
to quickly scan the landscape hoping to stumble
upon a snake crossing the road or basking in the
sun; they walked approximately 35 miles, slowly
searching every nook and cranny along a canal; and
they used a bicycle in an attempt to cover more
ground while others remained on foot. The bicycle
technique proved the most successful.
College of Sciences and Mathematics
21