Attempted eradication of Porphyrio porphyrio Linnaeus in the Florida Everglades

extending from southwest Europe through Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands (Taylor 1998, but see Sangster 1998, Pranty et al. 2000). Porphyrio porphyrio is common in Australia and New Zealand, where they are considered an agricultural pest. Three Florida specimens have been identified as P. p. poliocephalus (Kratter et al. 2002, B i l l P r a n t y p e r s o n a l communication), which is native from the Caspian Sea through Southeast Asia (Sangster 1998).


Porphyrio porphyrio is common in
Australia and New Zealand, where they are considered an agricultural pest.Three Florida specimens have been identified as P. p.
poliocephalus (Kratter et al. 2002, B i l l P r a n t y p e r s o n a l communication), which is native from the Caspian Sea through Southeast Asia (Sangster 1998).

Porphyrio porphyrio escaped
or were released from one or two private collections in Pembroke Pines, Florida, around or before 1996 (Pranty et al. 2000).Over the next several years, these birds successfully reproduced and dispersed locally, with 134 P.

Study Area
The southernmost part of the study area is primarily public conservation porphyrio in the Everglades area south of Lake Okeechobee, and to assess the feasibility of eradication.

Conclusions
The objective of rapid response to the discovery of P. porphyrio in conservation lands was to eradicate what was thought to be a small, isolated population, based on initial surveys of managing agencies.After Figure 1.Principal land management and ownership in purple swamphen study area.E.A.A -Everglades Agricultural Area; WCA -Water Conservation Area; STA -Stormwater Treatment Area.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Porphyrio porphyrio harvest in Water Conservation Area 2B (WCA 2B ) and three Stormwater Treatment Areas (STA), October 2006 through December 2008.Missing bars indicate months with no hunts ; solid bars indicate range of number of birds killed in months with more than one hunt.
In June 2010, a P. porphyrio was observed with an unidentified chick in its bill (Walter Betit personal communication).We were not able to dedicate time observing P. porphyrio interactions with other birds, and the degree and frequency of such interactions is unknown.Additionally, the broad native distribution of P. porphyrio suggests that its introduced range may increase significantly in Florida and beyond, with the potential to interact with a greater variety of native and exotic wildlife.We recommend long-term surveys to determine the risk of competition and predation by P. porphyrio on native birds.
or pairs of P. porphyrio (Figure 1).Porphyrio porphyrio have a broad native distribution, with 13 Abstract Porphyrio porphyrio (Fulica porphyrio Linnaeus) was reported to the South a s s e s s m e n t w a s s e v e r e l y underestimated.After removing nearly 1500 P. porphyrio in 2008, we concluded that eradication was not possible.Failure of this eradication attempt is attributed to P. porphyrio's a f f i n i t y w i t h d e n s e e m e r g e n t vegetation, which greatly limited shooting effectiveness.Further, the failed eradication underscores the importance of a reporting network to improve early detection and the chance to eliminate naturalized or feral populations of non-native species.Resumen En 2006 se notificó al Distrito Sur de Gestión de Aguas de Florida que Porphyrio porphyrio (Fulica porphyrio Linte 73 jornadas de caza, lo que sugiere que la evaluación inicial de la población fue subestimada.Después de la eliminación de casi 1500 ejemplares de P. porphyrio en 2008, llegamos a la conclusión de que la erradicación no era posible.El fracaso de este intento de erradicación se atribuye a la afinidad de P. porphyrio

Table 1 .
Porphyrio porphyrio harvest in Water Conservation Area (WCA) 2B, Stormwater Treatment Areas (STA), and Lake Okeechobee, Florida, October 2006 through December 2008.Number of hunts in parentheses (hunt = one day in an area, regardless of the number of boats or hunters).
May 2006, P. porphyrio were found in a 2000-ha area in the southern portion of WCA 2B.Nests and chicks were observed, with an estimated population of <100 birds.On the same day, several dozen P. sativa.We realized our initial P. porphyrio population estimate was low, and the number of hunts was tripled in 2007, removing four times as many P. porphyrio as in 2006.