The Problem With Reptiles in the Everglades

Who let the 200-pound python out? 

Today, the origin of the Burmese python problem in the Everglades. And how science is being used to try to solve what seems like a losing battle. 

I'm back in South Florida, in the Everglades, on the side of a dirt road next to a canal. It looks pretty similar to where I met Anthony Flanagan and Kevin Pavlidis - the two python bounty hunters from the last episode.

Out in front of me are miles and miles of marshland. Today, we're diving back into the Burmese python problem. But this time...we're doing something a little different. We're letting the pythons go.

With the focus being the urgent removal of Burmese pythons from the Everglades, it might seem counterintuitive that we are now releasing one back into the ecosystem that it's destroying. But there's a good reason why. 

This snake will lead researchers towards all sorts of important information that might just save this ecosystem from an impending ecological collapse.

Behind the scenes footage of releasing the 16-foot python and our run-in with the alligator.

Follow us on Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.