There are approximately 1.3 million alligators in Florida. One of them recently made a meal of an invasive, destructive Burmese python in the Everglades.
Coincidentally, the alligator ate the python near the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility − and the encounter was captured on video.
According to a news report cited by Storyful, Alison Joslyn was riding her bike in the Shark Valley area on Aug. 1 when she spotted an alligator towing a Burmese python in its jaws.
“I stayed and watched it for quite a while as it was struggling to eat the python,” Joslyn said.
The video shows the alligator chomping on the python and eventually swimming away with it in its mouth.
Shark Valley is located about 40 miles west of Alligator Alcatraz.
The Shark Valley alligator-python incident is not the first video to makes waves online: On Thanksgiving Day in 2024, a large alligator, nicknamed “Godzilla,” was caught on video hauling a massive Burmese python through the water in the Everglades.
What is Shark Valley in the Florida Everglades?
According to the National Park Service, Shark Valley is in the heart of the Everglades’ freshwater marsh.
You can walk, bike or take a narrated tram ride along a 15-mile loop road into Shark River Slough.
Along the loop road are opportunities to see wildlife close up. Halfway around the loop, a 70-foot high observation tower provides a panoramic view of the sawgrass marsh.
Where is Shark Valley in Florida Everglades? Is Shark Valley in Florida near Alligator Alcatraz?
Maps show the Shark Valley Visitor Center at about 40 miles west of Alligator Alcatraz, a temporary immigration detention facility at the former Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida.
What is Alligator Alcatraz in Florida?
Alligator Alcatraz is Florida’s recently opened migrant detention center in the Everglades. Its famous nickname borrows Florida’s reputation for alligators, and its location chosen, according to news reports, because of the amount of alligators and pythons that live there.
The center was the brainchild of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who announced the site in a video on X. In the video, Uthmeier said, “You don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons.”
The controversial center reportedly has a capacity of up to 3,000 detainees, housed in FEMA tents and trailers.
Alligator Alcatraz was built at the Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, a 39-square-mile airport facility with a 10,500-foot runway in Ochopee, an unincorporated community in Collier County, Florida, in less than two weeks. President Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, who leads the Department of Homeland Security, paid a visit there this summer on opening day.
The facility is in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Invasive Burmese pythons wreak havoc on Everglades ecosystem
Burmese pythons are an invasive species established across more than a thousand square miles of South Florida, including Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve and Collier-Seminole State Park.
The constrictors have few predators and prey on native species, eating just about anything from field mice to deer.
According to a 2012 study, they’ve contributed to the decline of raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, and marsh and cottontail rabbits.
What’s the largest Burmese python caught in Florida?
Burmese pythons are among the largest snakes in the world, with adult animals averaging between 10 and 16 feet long, according to the University of Florida.
A group of python hunters caught the longest Burmese python ever measured on July 10, 2023, in the Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County.
The monster snake was 19 feet long.
The heaviest Burmese python ever recorded was caught by Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologists in the Florida Everglades in 2022. The colossal female python weighed an eye-popping 215 pounds and was nearly 18 feet long.
Watch alligator chomp on Burmese python in Florida Everglades
Do alligators eat Burmese pythons in Florida?
Yes. Alligators in Florida eat Burmese pythons.
In a 2023 USGS study, baby Burmese pythons were outfitted with radio transmitters. Five of the pythons were eaten by alligators.
On Thanksgiving Day in 2024, a large alligator, nicknamed “Godzilla,” was caught on video hauling a massive Burmese python through the water in the Everglades.
In 2023, a Florida woman captured video of a 10-foot alligator in the Everglades eating a large Burmese python.
Do Burmese pythons eat alligators in Florida?
What’s good for the goose …
Burmese pythons have been known to make a meal of smaller alligators.
For example, in 2021, a bicyclist filmed a Burmese python strangling an alligator in Big Cypress National Park.
A 5-foot alligator was found inside of an 18-foot Burmese python carcass during a necropsy.
How did the Burmese python get to Florida?
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia. Many of the invasive snakes came to the U.S. because of their popularity in the pet trade, according to the USGS.
The snakes were then intentionally or accidentally released in South Florida.
How many Burmese pythons are in Florida, Everglades?
Burmese pythons “can survive in and utilize a variety of habitats found in the region, and many of these areas are difficult to access and effectively survey,” the USGS reported.
The agency conservatively estimates the Burmese python population in the Florida Everglades region in the tens of thousands.
How far north in Florida are pythons found?
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, Burmese pythons are established from just south of Lake Okeechobee to Key Largo and from western Broward County west to Collier County, including:
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Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge
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Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area
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Big Cypress National Preserve
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Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
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Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
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Picayune Strand State Forest
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Collier-Seminole State Park
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Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Any pythons found outside of those areas are likely escaped or released captive animals.
However, “due to the cryptic nature of pythons, it can take a while to gather enough evidence to confirm new areas of establishment,” FWC said.
How big do Burmese pythons in Florida get?
Burmese pythons are among the largest snakes in the world, with adult animals averaging between 10 and 16 feet long, according to the University of Florida.
A group of python hunters caught the longest Burmese python ever measured on July 10, 2023, in the Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County.
The monster snake was 19 feet long.
The heaviest Burmese python ever recorded was caught by Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologists in the Florida Everglades in 2022. The colossal female python weighed an eye-popping 215 pounds and was nearly 18 feet long.
Can people eat Burmese pythons wild-caught in Florida?
While it’s not illegal to eat python meat, it’s definitely not recommended.
According to FWC, the Florida Department of Health issued a “Do Not Consume Python” advisory because mercury levels considered too high for human consumption was found in python meat during testing.
Has a Burmese python ever killed a person in Florida?
While there have been no human deaths from wild-living Burmese pythons in Florida, the possibility can’t be ruled out, the USGS reported.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Florida alligator chomps on, drags massive python in Everglades: Video
