The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Python Challenge turns Burmese python removal into a public, prize-driven contest that draws professionals and amateurs alike. The event, held annually since 2013, closed this year on July 19; winners are expected to be announced in early August. Photo galleries from past and current events document participants posing with captures. Organizers say every removal helps Everglades restoration, though some experts call the contest more awareness-raising than a permanent solution.
Florida's Python Challenge: Captures, Photos and a Push to Protect the Everglades
Photo Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife
Florida's annual Python Challenge has turned removal of invasive Burmese pythons into a public, prize-driven effort — and a photography moment for many successful hunters. The event, run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), pairs hands-on removal with broad public participation to help protect the Everglades and other vulnerable wetlands.
What the Challenge Does
Since 2013, the Python Challenge has invited both professional trapping teams and amateur hunters to search for and remove Burmese pythons from South Florida. The contest offers cash prizes, attracts media attention and increases the number of people helping locate and remove invasive snakes.
Photos, Publicity and Participation
Media coverage and photo galleries have become a familiar element of the event. The Naples Daily News published a 19-image gallery featuring hunters with pythons removed during the 2016, 2020 and 2022 contests, and the Python Challenge’s official website shared photos from the most recent competition as well.
This year’s competition closed on July 19; organizers expect to announce the grand-prize winner and category winners in early August.
Why It Matters
Burmese pythons are a serious invasive threat in South Florida. When an apex or large predator like the python becomes established, its effects can ripple through the food web — reducing native mammal and bird populations, altering predator-prey dynamics and complicating restoration of fragile wetland ecosystems.
Healthy wetlands support biodiversity, regulate water flow and quality, and sustain recreation and tourism that many Florida communities rely on. Every captured python can relieve predation pressure on native species and make conservation work more effective.
Limits and Ongoing Effort
The Challenge expands removal capacity and raises awareness, but experts emphasize it is not a standalone solution. Many hunters work year-round outside the official contest to keep steady pressure on the invasive population.
Amy Siewe, known as "The Python Huntress" and not a contest participant, told the Naples Daily News that the event functions more as a spectacle that raises awareness than as a long-term fix for the invasive-species problem.
Nonetheless, combining public engagement, prize incentives and professional efforts helps find and remove more snakes than relying on agency staff alone. The Python Challenge remains one component of a broader, ongoing effort to protect Florida's most important wetlands, including the Everglades.
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