Jim McMahon/Mapman®
Wildlife researchers in Florida recently caught the biggest python ever recorded in the state. The female Burmese python was nearly 18 feet long and weighed a whopping 215 pounds. It was 30 pounds heavier than the previous record holder.
The snake’s super size isn’t good news, experts say. Native to Asia, Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Everglades. That is an area of forests, prairies, and wetlands in Florida. The snakes compete with local animals for food.
Researchers suspect that the first Burmese pythons in the Everglades were pets released into the wild decades ago. Now, experts estimate, hundreds of thousands could be there. The record snake alone had 122 eggs inside—more than double what scientists had expected.