Florida Considering a Purple Swamphen Season

It’s no secret that South Florida is ground zero for invasive species hunting and fishing opportunities. Anglers have snakeheads and whatever else is swimming around and big-game hunters have giant pythons and boa constrictors, but what about upland and waterfowl hunters? Where’s their exotic hunting opportunity? Ask and ye shall receive. Meet the purple swamphen…

From the story in the Miami Herald:
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State wildlife managers are considering including a nonnative bird called the purple swamphen in South Florida’s waterfowl hunting season. Although not dangerous to humans, it poses a major threat to Florida’s wetlands ecosystem. State officials say the large bird can easily harass a small one, and out-competes with native birds for food and shelter. A hunting posse killed over 3,000 swamphens in 2006, but no one knows how many are left. The bird has spread over the last 14 years from the man-made marshes of Broward County to Lake Okeechobee and beyond. Native to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific islands, the chicken-sized swamphens got here by people setting them free in the Everglades._