Yetir Nitzany of Miami was riding his bike through Everglades National Park on April 1 when he saw a 10-foot-long Burmese python slithering across the path. There were children nearby, which raised safety concerns, but Nitzny was concerned for other reasons as well. as he said a facebook post Last week, he “felt a real obligation” to do something about the snake, whose body was still bulging from having swallowed something – presumably a native creature.
After all, the Burmese python is enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Florida wildlife managers. These giant invasive snakes are destroying the Everglades ecosystem by eating away at the native food web without any natural predators. The state is now paying contractors to remove the snakes, and it hosts an annual hunting contest to raise awareness of the invasive python problem. Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission permits (and) even encourages) The public must kill them humanely whenever possible, with no bag limits or season and no hunting license required.
So, Nitzani scrambled and caught the python while the spectators stood back and watched. They then stopped a tram driver, who reportedly told Nitzny, “Good job,” and advised him to hold the snake until a park ranger arrived.
“But instead of ‘thank you,’ as soon as the ranger arrived, he fined me $180 because Everglades National Park is federal land!” Nitzani wrote in his post. “The ranger took the snake, ultimately euthanized it, and left me with a huge fine!”
Nitzani was cited handling wildlife without a permit. NPS gave them the option to pay the $180 fee and avoid appearing in court.
On principle, Nitzany opted to challenge the citation in court. During the weeks leading up to the hearing, he was contacted several times by NPS officials, who threatened him with a federal bench warrant if he failed to appear in court.
“Forcing me to pay was clearly a scare tactic because they knew fining someone for catching an invasive python could cause terrible publicity.”
Nitzny attended his hearing in federal court on Friday. A supporter also joined him there Ron MagillA photographer, TV personality, and wildlife conservationist, who said he thought it was absurd for a federal agency to cite Nitzany under these circumstances.
Magill said, “This guy did a good job and now he’s being given a $180 citation for it? That’s wrong.” told a local news channel Friday. “At the end of the day, to me, it’s common sense. Unfortunately, it’s not very common anymore these days.”
According to both Nitzani and NBC-6The federal court dismissed the case before Nitzany even arrived in the courtroom. A prosecutor said the ticket was misspelled.
Read further: What it’s like to be dragged into a Florida swamp by a 200-pound python
“My goal now is to do everything possible to change this law,” Magill said in a separate interview. “To make sure there is a caveat in this law so that people like Yetir are not punished for doing the right thing for the environment.”
Nitzany, for his part, says he would do the same thing again even if federal laws remained unchanged.
“I made a mess of myself by asking for help,” Nitzny told reporters outside the courtroom Friday. “If I could do it again, I’d probably kill it and throw it in the bushes.”
