What can happen if someone released a bunch of exotic animals in the everglades?

Question

Now im not saying i would do this (because i live in florida and i love our wildlife), but hypothetically speaking, what if someone got a bunch of non native animals such as cobras or nile crocodiles and released them into the everglades, what will happen to the ecosystem and how long will it take for the eco system to be totally unbalanced, I know about the burmese pythons in the everglades, and being in miami my whole life i know that iguanas aren't supposed to be running across my roof(no, green iguanas are not native),

So what can happen, and what would be the consequences, also i know that it would take alot of the same species but what if someone got about 5000 cobras and released them?

Answer 1

Non-indigenous wildlife gaining a foothold in the Everglades is an on-going problem for Florida, but I don't think your scenarios are worse than what is already happening. A breeding population of Nile crocs would be harmful even if they only displaced populations of alligators or American Crocs. You'd be replacing one predator with a similar one in that particular ecological niche. The cobras, while terrifying the local human population, could probably take over the niche they were most adaptive to, replacing something like diamondback rattlesnakes or Indigo snakes. The huge problem I see is with the small(?) breeding populations of Burmese pythons. If they are successful, which I have no doubt they will from what I'm seeing and hearing, they will create a new super predator that the Everglade ecosystem will not be able to adapt to. Taking their place among the crocodilians, panthers and other apex predators, and due to their size and ability to traverse diverse terrain, they will surely be able to decimate entire species of prey animals. A noticable diversity of fauna in the Glades will be lost.

Answer 2

Well a nile crocodile if it could live could out compete the native predator species (alligators) and cause possibly extinction of both competing predator and prey species. Cobras might kill many animals unprepared to deal with the threat because they aren't used to a venomous snake like that. Depending on how many were realeased and what species (some would simply not be able to live in Florida) the ecosystem could be minimaly affected to completely decimated in a few years.

Answer 3

You can't really make a timeline but for other introduced species you might look at what has happened on hawaii with the introduction of the brown tree snake. Native wildlife has been decimated. Also, with the introduction of foxes and domestic cats in australia, small native wildlife has been hit hard and some species have become extinct on the mainland.

Answer 4

They already have, and do and will.



People release all sorts of exotics, plants as well as animals everywhere.



Rabbits in Australia, Cane toads in Australia, rats into Pacific Islands, the list is endless, absolutely endless.



And the effects are always disastrous for the native populations, both plant and animal.