wildlife-management

1 article

Characterizing the annual cycle of steroid hormones in males from an invasive vertebrate (Python bivittatus) of management concern.

PubMed · 2026-06-10

Researchers tracked testosterone and stress hormones across a full year in wild male Burmese pythons in South Florida, finding that testosterone peaks before breeding season and is driven by daylight length and temperature — insights that could help target invasive python control efforts.

Testosterone in male pythons peaks before the breeding season begins and declines to baseline levels during the non-breeding season.

Corticosterone (a stress hormone) showed no clear seasonal pattern but was more variable during the breeding season.

Photoperiod (day length) and ambient temperature were identified as the primary environmental drivers of male hormone cycles.

wildlife-management

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