{"id":101569,"date":"2025-10-24T13:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/101569\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T13:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:42:14","slug":"florida-plans-to-rid-everglades-of-invasive-pythons-by-turning-them-into-handbags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/101569\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida plans to rid Everglades of invasive pythons by turning them into HANDBAGS"},"content":{"rendered":"

By SOPHIE GABLE, US REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 16:47 EDT, 22 October 2025 | Updated: 18:07 EDT, 22 October 2025 <\/p>\n

Florida<\/a> Governor Ron DeSantis<\/a> announced this week that the state is ridding the Everglades of invasive pythons by partnering with a company that turns the reptiles into accessories, including fashionable handbags.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DeSantis said that the state’s partnership with Inversa, a company that makes leather products from invasive species, has ‘supercharged’ the removal of Burmese pythons from the Everglades.<\/p>\n

The governor added that the program, spearheaded by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission\u2019s Python Action Team, removed more pythons in July than in the entirety of 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The removal program received $2 million from the state’s budget. DeSantis called for continued funding to eventually rid the area of the invasive species.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burmese pythons aren’t native to the Everglades, so their presence threatens the balance of the ecosystem.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

They prey on birds, mammals, and other reptiles in the area, and can lay up to 100 eggs at a time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Non-native pythons can disrupt the environment and cause a significant decline in the animal populations they prey on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The partnership with Inversa has ramped up efforts to rid the species from the Everglades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Florida <\/p>\n

Florida Fish and Wildlife has partnered with Inversa, a company that makes leather products from invasive species, to eliminate Burmese pythons from the Everglades\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Florida <\/p>\n

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that efforts to eliminate the invasive species were ahead of schedule on Tuesday\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Burmese <\/p>\n

Burmese pythons were brought to Florida in the 1970s during the illegal pet trade and have threatened the ecosystem ever since\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inversa’s mission statement is: ‘Something positive from something negative.<\/p>\n

‘As a humane byproduct of ecosystem restoration that addresses the harm caused by non-native species, INVERSA\u2122 ethical exotics restore balance to nature.’<\/p>\n

The company turns the python into belts, handbags, wallets, jewelry, and even sneakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inversa products are sold through brand partners like Rex Shoes and w.kleinberg. The Inversa Dragonfin Belt with Brushed Nickel Buckle is on sale for $295.<\/p>\n

The company also sells products made from invasive species around the world, including Silverfin fish in the Mississippi River Basin and Lionfish infesting the Caribbean Reefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said the Inversa partnership marks a milestone in the fight against the Burmese python, which will benefit future generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The FWC is already a year and a half ahead of schedule in eliminating the invasive species from the Everglades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the summer, the initiative removed 1,022 pythons, compared to just 343 during the summer of 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The \"Inversa <\/p>\n

Inversa is a company that makes products exclusively from invasive species\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Inversa's <\/p>\n

Inversa’s mission statement reads:\u00a0‘Something positive from something negative. As a humane byproduct of ecosystem restoration that addresses the harm caused by non-native species, INVERSA\u2122 ethical exotics restore balance to nature’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The initiative helped to remove over 1,000 pythons over the summer, which is significantly more than the 343 snakes eliminated in the summer of 2024\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burmese pythons have threatened the Florida ecosystem s<\/a>ince they were brought to the state in the 1970s during the illegal pet trade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since then, the monstrous reptiles have thrived and assumed a top position in the food chain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They even prey on the Key Largo wood rat, which is an invasive species. Burmese pythons invade the food sources of other predators, like panthers, bobcats, and alligators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The state also sponsored the Florida Python Challenge in July to encourage the removal of pythons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Participants from Canada and 30 states traveled to the Everglades and helped remove almost 300 invasive Burmese pythons from South Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n Florida plans to rid Everglades of invasive pythons by turning them into HANDBAGS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By SOPHIE GABLE, US REPORTER Published: 16:47 EDT, 22 October 2025 | Updated: 18:07 EDT, 22 October 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[539,61,60,43,62994,82,263],"class_list":["post-101569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-dailymail","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-ron-desantis","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}