"Salazar Seeks Import Ban on Invasive Snakes"

"Reptile retailers, brace yourselves: the federal government wants to ban the import of some large and seemingly popular snakes.

Responding to growing concern over the spread of Burmese pythons in the Everglades, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Wednesday to ban both the import and interstate transport of the python and eight other snake species, all large constrictors.

Ken Salazar, secretary of the interior, announced the move in a news conference in the cargo area at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the nation's biggest entry point for wildlife imports.

The proposal would add four species of python, four species of anaconda and the boa constrictor to a list of "injurious species" regulated by federal law, making their import and their transportation across state lines a misdemeanor. Violators would face fines and up to six months' imprisonment."

John Collins Rudolf reports for Green Inc. in the New York Times January 20, 2010.