Most Wanted
Asian Carp
REWARD: $1,000 dollars per Asian Carp.
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ORIGIN: Southeast Asia LOCATED: Mississippi River Basin, Great Lakes CRIME: Asian Carp invade the Great Lakes and many other waterways, and outcompete native fish species for food and habitat, depleting their resources. They strip the food web of the key source of food for small and big fish. They also pose as a threat to fishermen, as they jump out of the water when startled. If settled in the Great Lakes, they could provide significant impacts on Great Lakes wetlands and shoreline vegetation which provide spawning habitat for native fish. |
ORIGIN: Eurasia
LOCATED: Reported in at least 45 states. They were imported as a food source and then escaped from domestication, or were intentionally released. CRIME: Feral pigs cause at least 1.5$ billion dollars of damage every year. They are an ecological nightmare that eat turkey eggs, wild turkey eggs, and quail that nest on the ground. They destroy acres of agricultural land and crops, carry diseases, and compete against native species for food. They destroy recreational activities, and eat cattle, and claim their food. They also are potential of carrying diseases. |
Feral Pig
REWARD: $10,000 each Feral Pig
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Africanized Bee (Killer Bee)
REWARD: $5,000 each nest, $2,000 each queen.
ORIGIN: Southeast Asia
LOCATED: Southeast America, was introduced as an ornamental bush and efficient shade producer. CRIME: The Kudzu is a fast growing vine, known as the "the plant that ate the south", as it can grow up to 100 feet, considering it grows 1 foot a day. It also outcompetes native species for resources. In general, this deadly vine can collapse buildings, kill trees, and even break power lines. |
ORIGIN: Brazil, produced there by cross breeding African honey bee with various European honey bees, in attempt to produce honey bees that could survive Brazil's tropical climate. LOCATION: 26 swarms accidentally escaped quarantine and, since then, have spread throughout South and Central America and arrived in North America in 1985. CRIME: Killer bees pose a serious threat to humans, as they sting multiple times and swarm, and will chase a person for almost a quarter of a mile. It also competes with pollen producing organisms, mainly honey bees, being a serious threat to the honey industry, causing millions or even billions of dollars of damage. They are also lousy honey producers. Kudzu
REWARD: $5,000 per 2 vines
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Zebra Mussel
REWARD: 100 pounds = $2,000
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ORIGIN: Lakes of Southern Russia LOCATED: Great Lakes, Lake St. Clair, and the Mississippi River watershed. They got here by attaching themselves to boats and brought to the great lakes. CRIME: Known to feed on the phytoplankton that nourish the filterfeeders, which support the diet of larger fish, starving other species living around them. They also clog the pipeline of power plants, and damage ships and water ways. Zebra mussels are believed to be the source of deadly avian botulism poisoning that has killed many birds in the Great Lakes. |
ORIGIN: China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea.
LOCATED: Northern Snake heads are established in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Arkansas. They entered the U.S when owners of a Snakehead let them free. CRIME: Northern snakehead fish are strong predators at the juvenile and adult stages of their life cycle. Many native species are outcompeted for food resources. Small prey, such as zooplankton, larvae, and small fish and crustaceans populations may be threatened by feeding juvenile snakehead fish. Adults consume fish, crustaceans, small amphibians, reptiles, and some birds and mammals. Northern snakeheads in general, effectively impact foodchains and ecosystems. |
Northern Snakehead
PRIZE: $10,000 for one Norther Snakehead
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Starling
REWARD: 100 birds = $1,000
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ORIGIN: Eurasia. LOCATED: Most of Canada and America. Introduced to New York in 1890 and 1891 by a drug manufacturer who wanted to establish all birds said in the works of William Shakespeare. Later on, Starlings slowly and gradually spread throughout the United States and had an estimated population of 140 million birds in 1994. CRIME: Starlings fly in flocks of thousands, even millions! They effectively damage crops and pose a serious threat for agriculture. They are also known to carry many diseases, and so are their droppings (ex. blastomycosis, and samonella). They are known to enter buildings to build nest, causing sanitation problems. They create problems for poultry facilities by contaminating food and water sources. Not only that, but they also compete with other native species of birds. |
ORIGIN: Native to the Alantic Ocean
LOCATED: The sea lamprey was first discovered in Lake Ontario in 1835, Lake Erie in 1921, Lake Huron in 1932, Lake Michigan in 1936, and Lake Superior in 1946. It is also found in the Great Lakes. It made its ways through man made locks and canals. CRIME: The Sea Lamprey is considered one of the most devastating invaders of the Great Lakes. They are creatures with suction-cup, bloodsucking mouths can kill more than 18 kg of the fish they prey on during their 12 to 20-month adult lifespan. Before control efforts, lake trout populations were drastically reduced or extirpated. The sea lamprey is an aggressive predator by nature, which gives it a competitive advantage in a lake system where it has no predators and its prey lacks defenses against it. |
Sea Lamprey
REWARD: 10 Lamprey = $10,000
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Lionfish
REWARD: 2 Lionfish = $10,000
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ORIGIN: Indo-pacific region LOCATED: Southeastern United States coast from Florida to North Carolina. CRIME: Lion fish destroy life on Coral Reef. They compete for food with predatory fish, and can prey on food over half the size of their own body as long as it can fit into their mouth, and their stomach can expand up to 30 times the normal volume. Lion fish are out-breeding, out-competing, and out-living every other native fish. Lobster industries are crashing as a result of Lionfish predatation, and reef health in the Western Alantic Basin. The deadly predator also has painful, venomous spines. |
ORIGIN: Southeast Asia
LOCATED: South Florida. CRIME: The Burmese Python is a major threat to the flourishing wildlife of Florida and the Everglades. They feed on endangered species and they out compete and feed on wildlife, threatening many populations, especially mammalian populations. Sightings of raccoons are down by 99.3 per cent, opossums by 98.9 per cent, and white-tailed deer by 94.1 per cent. Bird and coyote populations may be threatened, as well as the endangered Florida panther. |
Burmese Python
REWARD: 1 snake = $5,000
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