Florida Wildlife

State wildlife officials lobbied for the change before they announced Operation Viper, in which people were busted for allegedly illegally selling venomous snakes.

They say the federal government has previously agreed to added protections for the species but has since backtracked.

The award-winning film will be released in over 40 theaters in Florida on Feb. 24. The film's photographer and producer will host Q&A sessions this weekend in Tampa.

Wildlife officials are using a new method to help control the explosive population growth of the invasive snake by tracking down their prey.

“Florida bonneted bats desperately need critical habitat protection, and the Fish and Wildlife Service has excluded crucial areas threatened by development right now,” said attorney Ragan Whitlock with the Center for Biological Diversity.

It will be the second year the wildlife agencies have taken the unprecedented step of providing lettuce for manatees at the power plant in Cape Canaveral.

Wildlife commission staff brought in law enforcement and an expert on global turtle trafficking to make the case against captive breeding of diamondback terrapins, while the majority of public commenters were for it.

The captive breeding of diamondback terrapins has not been allowed in Florida since 2006, but wildlife officials on Wednesday will discuss whether to bring it back.

While an original plan was presented in 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now wants to designate approximately 1.2 million acres as critical habitat across 13 counties - this marks a 21% reduction from the previous proposal.

One hatchling was rescued from a parking lot after crawling across Gulf Boulevard, a major roadway along the barrier islands of Pinellas County.