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Scientists in Florida are using solar-powered, lifelike robot rabbits that mimic the movement, heat signature, and the scent of real rabbits in the state’s continuing battle against invasive Burmese pythons. 40 of these remote-controlled robot bunnies were released in South Florida this month with the hope of luring pythons out of hiding, making them easier to capture.
Burmese pythons have been a scourge on numerous species in the state since the 1990s. Areas infested with the snakes have seen species like raccoons, possums, and bobcats decline in population by anywhere from 87 to 99 percent. Fox Weather reports that more than 19,000 pythons have been removed from the Everglades since 2000, but they are difficult to find because they live in dense vegetation.
Previously, the South Florida Water Management District tried using live rabbits in protected cages as a sort of bait to draw out Burmese pythons from their hiding places. They, however, required significant time and resources. Robot rabbits, on the other hand, do not.
Mike Kirkland, the South Florida Water Management District’s lead invasive animal biologist, tells Fox 13 News, “Pythons pick up on heat signatures, movement, and likely scent. The robotic rabbits now check all three boxes.”
These new robot rabbits are also equipped with a camera system powered by artificial intelligence that can detect pythons in the area. Once a snake is detected, the robot rabbit sends a signal to wildlife officials to come capture it.
“If we can see a statistically significant number of pythons that are coming to investigate these robotic rabbits and the pens that would be a success, because right now, pythons do a great job of staying hidden,” Kirkland told WINK News.
He believes that these robot rabbits along with other efforts to curb the Burmese python population “to a point where we can begin to see a robust return of our native animal populations, which is why we’re doing all this to begin with,” Kirkland told The Guardian.
“I’m confident we’re going to be able to manage this species to the point where we’re seeing our deer populations, our foxes, our possums, our raccoons and so on, restored to the Everglades,” he added.
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