This is a bit of a long read, but sums thing sup nicely:
Government officials and employees are stacking the deck in their efforts to push an extreme animal rights agenda. Dr. Gordon Rodda is a scientist that works for the United States Geological Service. The USGS is the Federal agency that has recently become the source of science by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Rodda along with the federal leadership are crafting not science, but carefully tailored papers masquerading as 'reports' in order to bring about the agenda of the Humane Society of the United States. The HSUS is bent on taking all animals out of the hands of mankind and is pushing a number of bills now working their way through the US House and the Senate that require this custom work that Rodda is adept at. The doctoring of facts is now systemic and eating away at a system that is supposed to safeguard the rights of US citizens while maintaining stewardship of the United States natural world.
Gordon Rodda with the able assistance of Robert Reed was commissioned by the USGS to write a report on the potential expansion of Burmese Pythons that exist today in the Everglades. This was a request for 'science' from the USFWS. The report was called: "What parts of the US mainland are climatically suitable for invasive alien pythons spreading from Everglades National Park?" This inner office report has been criticized by scientist on many levels. The USFWS, the USGS and Rodda/Reed all know there are many other considerations that need to be quantified in making a legitimate study of this sort. However, a legitimate determination of the possible invasive success of the Burmese Python is not the goal of this requested 'science'. The goal is to use this report as ammunition in gaining the animal rights extremists' ideological goals. They seek to shut down a large segment of the pet industry where millions of scaly critters inhabit aquaria in little boy's bedrooms and in science classrooms across the nation. An industry that employs thousands and according to the HSUS' own numbers, produce $3 billion in business a year.
One particular point illustrates perfectly the cooperation between Rodda/Reed and the USFWS leadership in their animal rights agenda.
Rodda and Reed wrote, "The Burmese Python is a questionable subspecies of the Indian Python, Python molurus" (McDiarmid et al. 1999).
Here is the significance of that singularly damning statement. Now it is not immediately clear why this is damning to the nonsnake keeping public. The problem snakes in the Everglades are Burmese Pythons. The climactic data for Burmese Pythons is no where near as wide ranging as is the climatic data of Indian Pythons is. Hence, this one statement that relegates Burmese and Indian Pythons into one indecipherable mess. To illustrate the folly and patent unfairness of this little trick, imagine saying that Sun Bears, which inhabit lowland tropical rain forests, could survive and thrive everyplace that other bears live. That is silly on the face of it. No less silly, or in this case, dishonest is the mislabeling of the highly specialized Burmese Python with the vastly variable Indian Python. The Burmese Python inhabits the same lowland rain forest as the Sun Bear coincidentally. A Burmese Python would be as far out of his climatic range in Atlanta Georgia as the Sun Bear would be. But not according to Rodda/Reed who require this deception to fabricate their contracted for conclussions.
Further, the USFWS does not agree with that statement either. The USFWS knows that Burmese and Indians Pythons are completely different animals. The Indian Python is already federally regulated. Import and export are illegal. Interstate sales are illegal as well without a Permit granted by the USFWS. Permits for commercial interstate shipping are only granted to individuals who pass through a rigorous application process. If the USFWS believed that the problem Burmese Python is actually the Indian Python, as Rodda and Reed claim in that single sentence, USFWS could end the trade in Burmese Pythons overnight. However, the USFWS leadership is after much more than just that problem species. They never mention the fact that the USFWS disagrees.
As Rodda and Reed gave one another high fives for the genius of this game changing false sentence, they know they will then ply all the climatic data that applies to Indian Pythons fraudulently to Burmese Pythons. They believe their legitimate credentials will discourage others from questioning this betrayal of science and academic integrity. They are stacking the deck in the favor of the extreme animal rights agenda they willingly serve.
In 2009 Hans J. Jacobs, Mark Auliya & Wolfgang Bohme, published a legitimately peer reviewed scientific paper called "Zur taxonomie des dunklen tigerpythons, Python molurus bivittatus Kuhl, 1820, speziell der population von Sulawesi". This document proves that Burmese Pythons are NOT Indian Pythons. The papers abstract reads, "This raised the taxonomic status of the Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus) is reassessed and elevated to specific rank again." Rodda and Reed are fully aware of this and yet this was ignored in favor of producing the customized science that pushed their own ideological agendas.
Rodda and Reed know full well that the scientific community does not accept that Burmese are Indian Pythons. They never mentioned that fact.
Rodda and Reed know that Burmese Pythons in the Everglades have been proven to be descendants of South East Asian Rain Forest dwelling Burmese Pythons. Timothy M. Collins, Barbie Freeman and Skip Snow proved the genetic origin of the Burmese Pythons in the Everglades in the FINAL REPORT GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF POPULATIONS OF THE NONINDIGENOUS BURMESE PYTHON IN EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, a report prepared for the South Florida Water Management District in 2008). Yet, Rodda and Reed failed to acknowledge this fact. Instead they used the data of the Indian Python, which created the nightmare scenario of Burmese Pythons at the Kentucky Derby and all across the southern half of the United States. The Rain Forest habitat preferring Burmese Python would not have their legitimate possible threat analyzed if Rodda and Reed could find another way to cook the books.
World renowned Reptile Author and conservationist Mark O'Shea remarks about Indian and Burmese Pythons on his web site:
http://www.markoshea.tv/series3/series03-02a.html
"The two pythons certainly seem to prefer different habitats, the Indian being found in dry woodland locations and the Burmese living in wetter grassland habitats..."
O'Shea knows this. Every Reptile expert on the planet knows this, including Rodda and Reed. The Indian and Burmese Pythons are different animals with different natural requirements. However, Rodda and Reed have chosen the path of deception, which apparently was perfectly fine with Dan Ashe who was the science advisor for the USFWS and is now the number two man at the USFWS and the point man pushing this deception.
The contrast of suitable habitat and range for the non-problem Indian Python, and the problem Burmese Python is dramatic. The Indian is much smaller and tolerant of temperatures that do mirror the data discussed by Rodda and Reed. Not so for the Burmese Python, which is limited to an extremely closely defined range of tropical rainforest in South East Asia. The Everglades is the closest thing to tropical rainforest in the US. Rodda and Reed might have some ground to stand on if the Indian Python was the species in question. Sadly it's not, and Burmese data has been severely bastardized.
An inconvenient occurrence for Rodda and Reed et al was the cold front that hit the United States including Florida during the first two weeks on January 2010. Weather did what weather does in North America and the temperatures in the Everglades dropped into the mid 30's. This happens every 20 to 25 years down south and Burmese Pythons are turning up dead all over the place in the Everglades. The cold weather killed hundreds of warm blooded endangered Manatees and 100 American Crocodiles have turned belly up from the cold. Rodda claimed that Burmese Pythons would invade the lower half of the United States from coast to coast. This includes areas all the way north to Washington DC where they are having record snow falls this winter. I wonder if the Burmese Pythons will be bringing their snowshoes. Talk about bad luck, unfortunately for the animal rights extremists, the University of Florida implanted radio transmitters in ten Burmese Pythons which were monitored before and after the cold snap. A number of those snakes succumbed to the cold! They are preparing a paper about these facts and are currently closely guarding the exact numbers.
The temperature in Tallahassee Florida dropped to 14 degrees over that cold period. A third grader can tell you what would happen to every single Burmese Python that would be subjected to those kind of temps. Eventually the sun comes out and shines brightly. Brightly enough to shine the light of truth on the blatant preconcived conclusion Rodda and the leadership of the USFWS hold to rather than honest science. Now the world is wondering how the cold blooded invaders, that are hell bent on that northward invasion were planning on bundling up next time weather happens. Surely Rodda knows the answer.
www.axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/19965
