The Florida Python Challenge 2024 is officially accepting applicants.
Florida holds an annual competition to remove Burmese pythons, which are considered an invasive species, from the Everglades.
Registration is now open and the python removal competition is set to begin at 12:01 a.m. on August 9, 2024 and ends at 5 p.m. on August 18, 2024. To register, click here.
Professional and novice hunters can compete for more than $25,000 in cash prizes.
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Prices are available for the longest python caught and the most pythons caught and removed.
"Last year, over 200 pythons were removed from the Everglades and almost a 1,050 people participated from 35 different states," said Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez during today's press conference. "Since Gov. Desantis and I have been in office we have been able to remove 13,000 pythons, but we know there's a lot more to be done."
Florida wildlife officials said 1,000 hunters from 32 states and as far away as Canada and Latvia removed 231 Burmese pythons during the 10-day competition in 2022.
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Capturing the snakes can get dicey.
"Use a buddy system,” recommended Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Nonnative Programming Coordinator McKayla Spencer, who demonstrated how to capture a python with a snake stick.
The goal of the challenge is to spread awareness of the invasive species. FWC officials note it is not known how many pythons are in the Everglades, but they were first spotted as early as 1979, and thought to have been introduced to South Florida as pets.
They are known to wreak havoc on native wildlife, even devouring alligators. Pythons have no natural predators in the Everglades.
Learn more at myFWC.com/python.
