Florida hunters chase $25,000 bounty as invasive pythons ravage Everglades wildlife

With prize money up for grabs in July, hunters fanned out through the Everglades for Florida's annual Python Challenge, an effort aimed at removing invasive Burmese pythons before they cause even more damage to native wildlife in one of the nation's most important wetlands.

What's happening?

The 10-day event carried $25,000 in total prizes, including $10,000 for the participant who killed the most pythons. It is meant to curb the damage these invasive snakes are causing throughout the Everglades food web.

While the competition has concluded, the winners have not yet been announced. Last year, it wasn't until August 13 that the winners were confirmed, per Naples Daily News. 

Why does it matter?

Professional python hunter Amy Siewe explained the importance of removing these threatening invasive snakes. 

"Every python we remove matters," she said on Facebook. "Every single one means fewer predators hunting our native wildlife and one less python growing into an apex predator." 

Burmese pythons eat many kinds of animals, and necropsies have turned up mammals, birds, reptiles, and even protected species in their stomachs.

The prey list includes animals such as wood storks, alligators, and deer. Because a single large python can consume prey equal to 100% of its body mass, per Naples Daily News, the species can quickly reshape an ecosystem that native animals did not evolve to defend against.

That damage extends beyond wildlife. When a major wetland such as the Everglades loses biodiversity, it undermines years of restoration work and threatens a natural system that supports nearby communities, recreation, and regional environmental health.

Female pythons can produce hundreds of eggs, too, and as the snakes get larger, so does the size of the prey they can kill.

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