A
total of 209 federally threatened eastern indigo snakes have now been released
in northern Florida in an effort to rebuild the population.
The
snakes have been released over the past 9 years at the Nature Conservancy’s Apalachicola
Bluffs and Ravines Preserve in Liberty County as part of an effort to return
the native, nonvenomous apex predator to the region.
42
of the snakes were released last Friday, 22 females and 20 males.
The snakes were bred and hatched by the Central
Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens’ Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation,
the world's foremost conservation organization dedicated to the captive
propagation and reintroduction of the eastern indigo snake.
The snakes were then raised with help from the
Welaka National Fish Hatchery for approximately two years before release.
The
snakes have been implanted with radio transmitters so they can be tracked and
monitored.
The
eastern indigo snake has been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species
Act since 1978.
The
indigo can grow to be between 8 and 9 feet long, and is the longest native
snake in the U.S.
The
indigo was largely eliminated from northern Florida due to habitat loss and
fragmentation - the species was last seen in the Liberty County preserve in
1982.
The
eastern indigo serves a critical function to balance the wildlife community –
it consumes a variety of small animals including both venomous and nonvenomous
snakes.
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