Python Cowboy<\/a>\u2019 has now added Nile monsters to his hunting list. <\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot we\u2019re up against, between the pythons, iguanas, Nile monitors, invasive fish, invasive plants,\u201d Kimmel said. <\/p>\n
He calls the elusive Nile monitors contortionists that can whip and spin and even bite to avoid human hands. <\/p>\n
\u201cUsing traps and catching them with the dogs, I\u2019ve interacted with them alive before and they are\u2026it\u2019s like catching a tornado,\u201d said Kimmel. \u201cSwim, burrow, they climb trees, they are like modern day velociraptors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike herbivore iguanas, the Nile monitors are carnivores and they feast on our native wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes me the most nervous is how we have multiple separate populations and they\u2019re growing,\u201d said Kimmel. <\/p>\n
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the relatively new invasive species is hard to spot anywhere and it\u2019s even harder to capture, which is why we aren\u2019t sure how many there are in South Florida.<\/p>\n
FWC said they are monitoring the local populations of the breeding Nile monitors in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Lee counties.<\/p>\n
Reported sightings are in the thousands, but Kimmel has only seen five and caught three since 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you shocked at how fast they are? Absolutely! And just how spooky they are, I mean they can\u2019t have a lot of negative interactions with humans but they know, they\u2019re just pew gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much like South Florida\u2019s other invasive species, researchers believe intentional and unintentional releases from animals in captivity were introduced as early as 1981.<\/p>\n
Forty years later in 2021, Nile monitors were added to Florida\u2019s prohibited species list.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got a little big, it got a little expensive to feed, it got a little too much to handle, and they decided to release it, thought they were giving it a better life,\u201d said Kimmel. \u201cThese animals are also escape artists.\u201d <\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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