Nature
PUBLISHED
Growing as long as a giraffe is tall, the Burmese python is not to be messed with. But that’s exactly what is about to happen in Florida.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced the return of the Florida Python Challenge. This is a ten-day event in which people will compete to catch and kill the most invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades.
Whoever manages to remove the largest number of pythons will win the Ultimate Grand Prize of $10,000 (£7,467), along with the satisfaction of knowing that they’ve helped to protect their local endangered wildlife from a deadly invasive predator.
This year’s competition will run from Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 19, with registration now open. Prizes are also awarded in the professional, novice and military categories.
While a snake-killing competition might seem fairly brutal, there are good reasons for this one.
As the name suggests, the Burmese python is not native to the Florida Everglades. Usually found slithering around Southeast Asia, the earliest sightings of the snakes in the southern US date back to the 1930s, although it is thought that the Everglades population likely started in the 1980s.
They were introduced through the pet trade. Growing over 5 meters (16 feet) long, it’s suspected that many of the pythons originate from pets that became too big for their owners to look after and were then released into the wild.
Since then, however, the pythons have wreaked havoc in the Everglades, which provided the perfect environment for these tropical reptiles. Living up to 20 years old, their numbers have rocketed into the tens of thousands, causing a massive problem for native wildlife.
One study in 2012 found an astonishing 99.3 percent decline in raccoon observations and 87.5 percent drop in bobcat sightings in regions where the pythons had colonized.
They’re even known to kill and eat alligators and full-sized adult white-tailed deer.
“Removing Burmese pythons from this ecosystem is critical to the survival of the native species that call this area home,” said “Alligator Ron” Bergeron, the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Member, in a statement.
“This is a great way for the public to get involved in the protection of the Everglades and I want to thank everyone who is participating in the 2026 Florida Python Challenge.”
“Long live the Everglades!”
This will be the 9th Florida Python Challenge to take place. Last year saw a total of 294 Burmese pythons removed from the Everglades, making the total number of pythons removed by the competition 1,406.
All participants must register and complete an online training course before taking part. This includes ensuring humane methods for killing the snakes, which typically involves a quick two-step process to destroy the animal's brain.
When the option is between getting rid of an invasive species or losing native wildlife, sometimes the choice is clear.
