Florida Fish & Wildlife has killed or removed more than 15,000 pythons since 2000, but none as big as this female.
Pythons are native to Southeast Asia. They're an invasive species in Florida. They were brought there in the 1970s, likely in the exotic pet trade.
Researchers Ian Bartoszek , Ian Easterling, and intern Kyle Findley carry record-breaking female Burmese Python weighing 215 pounds andThe python had hoof cores in her digestive tract, which researchers say indicates her last meal was an adult white-tailed deer."I thought the scale was broken," intern Kyle Findley said.
"Large reproductive female pythons are very important to remove from these ecosystems," according to biologist Sarah Funck. She said the big females are disproportionately capable of giving birth to many babies, which is why they're more important to find.
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