<p>-
- The Annual Python Hunting Challenge That Has Killed Thousands of Snakes Begins Again in Florida</p>
<p>Logan HollandJuly 14, 2025 at 7:11 PM</p>
<p>Joe Raedle/Getty</p>
<p>A python catching demonstration</p>
<p>The 2025 Florida Python Challenge runs from July 11 to July 20 in specific South Florida locations</p>
<p>Participants in the event have the chance to win $10,000 for humanely killing the most pythons</p>
<p>The use of firearms, dogs, and other animals is prohibited in the 2025 Florida Python Challenge</p>
<p>The annual Florida Python Challenge is back.</p>
<p>The event offers hunters from across the country the chance to win a $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize for removing the most invasive Burmese pythons from the Florida Everglades during a 10-day hunt, which began on Friday, July 11.</p>
<p>The competition is part of a state effort to help decrease the number of Burmese pythons in the Everglades. Although the large constrictor snakes aren't venomous, they are a threat to the native wildlife population.</p>
<p>AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File</p>
<p>Burmese python</p>
<p>"Alligator Ron" Bergeron, a governing board member of the South Florida Water Management District, shared on Instagram in May, "These pythons continue to wipe out species that don't belong here — deer, birds, small mammals — and threaten the balance of this fragile ecosystem."</p>
<p>Burmese python females lay between 50 and 100 eggs at a time, which facilitates the rapid spread of the snakes, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).</p>
<p>The reptiles, native to Asia, likely entered the wild as a result of the exotic pet trade, with more pythons released into the Everglades in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew allegedly destroyed a facility holding captive pythons, per CBS News.</p>
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<p>Over 23,000 pythons have been captured and removed from the Everglades since 2000, according to the FWC.</p>
<p>"Conservation isn't a one-time effort. It's a lifelong commitment. And I'll keep doing everything I can to protect this land I love," Bergeron added.</p>
<p>Those who participate in the challenge must pass a required online training, according to the event's website. Hunters must humanely kill pythons. The use of firearms, dogs, or other animals is not permitted during the challenge.</p>
<p>Sarah Funck, a FWC wildlife impact management section leader, shared in a press release last year that the key effort of the challenge is to increase public awareness of the negative impacts of the invasive species.</p>
<p>"When you have a non-native species present in the state for whatever purpose, don't let it loose; that can be really detrimental to our environment," Funck said.</p>
<p>"The iconic Everglades is a national treasure," Bergeron said in a statement. "The Florida Python Challenge is a great way to get the public involved in understanding the unique Everglades ecosystem."</p>
<p>on People</p>
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