Registration open and $30,000+ up for grabs: Florida Python Challenge, Aug. 4-13, 2023
FWC photo of Burmese python.
Registration is now open for the 2023 Florida Python Challenge, a 10-day competition that runs August 4–13, 2023. The competition is open to both professional and novice participants. This year, participants will have the chance to win a share of more than $30,000 in prizes!
Register
Visit FLPythonChallenge.org to register for the competition, take the required online training, view the optional training opportunities, learn more about Burmese pythons and the unique Everglades ecosystem, and find resources for planning your trip to south Florida to participate in the Florida Python Challenge®.
Hosts and Sponsors
The event, hosted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, raises awareness about invasive species in Florida and their impacts and encourages people to get directly involved in Everglades conservation through invasive species removal.
Thanks to generous sponsors, there will be an Ultimate Grand Prize of $10,000, and a prize of $7,500 for the Grand Prize Runner Up. Prizes will also be awarded in the professional, novice and military categories.
About Invasive Burmese Pythons
Burmese pythons are not native to Florida, and they negatively impact native wildlife. This invasive species is found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem in south Florida where they prey on birds, mammals and other reptiles. A female Burmese python can lay 50 to 100 eggs at a time. Since 2000, more than 18,000 Burmese pythons have been reported to the FWC as removed from the environment. For more information on Burmese pythons, visit MyFWC.com/Python.
2022 Florida Python Challenge Results
Participants in the 2022 Florida Python Challenge removed 231 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades, an increase from the 2021 number and more than double those removed in 2020. Nearly 1,000 people from 32 states, Canada, and Latvia registered to take part in the 10-day competition in 2022.
Year-Round Python Removal
In addition to python removal opportunities on 25 Commission-managed lands year-round, pythons can also be humanely killed on private lands at any time with landowner permission — no permit or hunting license required — and the FWC encourages people to remove and humanely kill pythons from private lands whenever possible.
View pictures and videos:
FlPythonChallenge.org/Newsroom