Rob Wallace's two gloved hands were tightly clenched around the snake's neck. It wasn't a monster Burmese python, but it was big enough to justify Wallace's complete attention and tight grip.
There has been, for a disturbing amount of time, a slow, creeping invasion of the national parks, one in the form of an ecosystem-upsetting menagerie that poses a significant threat to both native species and the very integrity of the parks.
How big of a problem are invasive animal species in the National Park System? This week we examine the topic of invasive animal species – think Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park, wild hogs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and even feral cats at Cape Hatteras National Seashore – and how the National Park Service is working to tackle the problem. Traveler's staff looks at some of the most photogenic destinations in the National Park System. And we include some surprise locations.
Some Florida panthers, already struggling with an extremely low population, could be afflicted with a neurological malady that impairs their rear legs and leads to difficulty in walking, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Nine-hundred Burmese pythons have been removed from the Everglades in South Florida since the effort to remove the invasive snakes began about a half-dozen years ago.
How did the infusion of Texas puma genes into the small population of Florida panthers in Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve benefit the panthers? Alexander Ochoa, a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University, explains in this week's show. We also look at Big Bend National Park as a winter destination, and question a proposal to let for-profit businesses operate more national park campgrounds.
You could serve a lot of "Everglades Pizza" with the 17-foot-python pulled out of Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. Or whip up an awful lot of snake egg omelets.
Kurt discusses backpacking with Michael Lanza, Florida Panthers with Elizabeth Fleming from Defender of Wildlife, finally the backcountry of Shenandoah National Park.
A review of work to restore the normal ecology of the Everglades by the National Academies of Sciences urges that a re-assessment be done to ensure the planning and projects are keeping climate change and its impacts in mind.
While the U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently deferred the auction of oil and gas leases near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado, the issue of energy development is not dead there, nor in many other areas of the National Park System. Contributor John Miles takes a look at the state of oil and gas exploration in the park system in this article.