Florida Python Challenge Returns to the Everglades With $25,000 in Prizes

The 2026 Florida Python Challenge, the state's annual competition to remove invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades, returns July 10 through July 19, a 10-day event that pits hundreds of participants against one of the most damaging invasive species in Florida's history. The challenge offers $25,000 in total prizes, headlined by an Ultimate Grand Prize of $10,000 awarded to whoever removes the most pythons during the competition window.

Run in connection with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the challenge has become the highest-profile front in a long-running effort to blunt the ecological damage that Burmese pythons have inflicted on the Everglades. The snakes, which are not native to Florida, have spread across the vast wetland ecosystem of the southern part of the state and have been linked to sharp declines in native mammal populations, making their removal a conservation priority.

The competition also serves a purpose beyond the snakes actually caught during its 10 days. By drawing participants and attention from across the country, the challenge raises public awareness of the python problem and recruits new people into a removal effort that continues year-round, long after the prizes are handed out.

How the Burmese Python Took Over the Everglades

Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia, not Florida, and their presence in the Everglades is the result of the exotic pet trade and releases into the wild over past decades. Once established in the warm, water-rich landscape of South Florida, the snakes found conditions well suited to their survival and reproduction, with abundant prey and few natural predators capable of controlling their numbers.

Over time, a breeding population took hold and expanded across the Everglades. Female Burmese pythons can lay large clutches of eggs, and the snakes are difficult to detect, blending into the sawgrass and wetlands that define the ecosystem. Their cryptic coloring and secretive habits make them extremely hard to find, which is precisely why organized removal efforts and competitions like the Python Challenge exist.

The consequences for native wildlife have been severe. As apex-level predators in an environment that did not evolve alongside them, pythons prey on a wide range of native animals, and researchers have documented steep declines in populations of mammals that once were common in the Everglades. The snakes have effectively rewired parts of the food web, removing prey species that other native predators and the broader ecosystem depend on.

The Ecological Stakes

The Everglades is one of the most distinctive ecosystems in North America, a slow-moving expanse of freshwater marsh, sawgrass, and tree islands that supports an extraordinary range of wildlife. It is precisely that richness that the python invasion threatens. By consuming native mammals and other animals, the snakes disrupt the balance of a system that took thousands of years to develop.

Declines in mammal populations ripple outward through the ecosystem. Predators that rely on those mammals for food lose a food source, plants that depend on animals for seed dispersal or grazing balance are affected, and the overall diversity of the system erodes. The python is not simply one more animal in the Everglades; it is a disruptive force that has altered the fundamental dynamics of the environment.

Because the snakes are so difficult to detect and so well established, wildlife managers have concluded that eradication is not a realistic goal with current tools. Instead, the emphasis is on removal and control, reducing python numbers where possible to relieve pressure on native wildlife. The Python Challenge fits into that strategy as a way to remove snakes while also mobilizing public participation and attention on a scale that professional teams alone cannot match.

How the Challenge Works

The Florida Python Challenge is structured as a timed competition. Over the 10 days from July 10 to July 19, registered participants search designated areas for Burmese pythons and remove the ones they find, with prizes awarded based on the number of snakes each participant removes. The Ultimate Grand Prize of $10,000 goes to the individual who removes the most pythons, and the remainder of the $25,000 prize pool is distributed across additional categories.

Participation is open to a broad range of people, not only professional hunters, which is part of what has made the event so popular. Registrants typically must complete required training before taking part, ensuring that participants understand how to identify Burmese pythons correctly, how to distinguish them from native snakes that must not be harmed, and how to remove them in a manner consistent with the rules of the competition.

The competition takes place across specific public lands in and around the Everglades where pythons are known to be present. Participants navigate difficult terrain, often in extreme summer heat and humidity, searching areas of marsh, levee, and roadside habitat where the snakes may be found. The physical demands are considerable, and success requires patience, skill, and no small amount of luck given how well the snakes hide.

Safety and Rules

Safety and humane treatment are central to the way the challenge is organized. Because participants include members of the public who may not be experienced snake handlers, the required training and the rules of the event are designed to protect both the people taking part and the native wildlife that shares the habitat. Correct identification is critical, since the Everglades is home to native snakes that are protected and must not be mistaken for the invasive Burmese python.

The competition operates within the framework set by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which oversees wildlife management in the state and works in connection with the event. Rules govern where participants may search, how pythons must be handled and removed, and how removals are verified for the purpose of awarding prizes. Those guidelines aim to ensure that the competition advances conservation goals rather than creating new problems.

The environment itself poses hazards beyond the snakes. Summer in the Everglades brings intense heat, biting insects, and challenging terrain, and participants must be prepared for the physical conditions. The structure of the event, including its training requirements and rules, reflects an effort to balance broad public participation with the need to keep people safe and to protect the ecosystem they are working to defend.

A Record-Setting History

The Python Challenge has grown into a significant annual event, and last year's competition set a new benchmark. That challenge drew 934 participants from 30 states and Canada, and those participants set a record by removing 294 pythons over the course of the competition. The turnout underscored both the reach of the event and the public appetite for taking part in a hands-on conservation effort.

The geographic spread of participants, coming from dozens of states and across the border from Canada, speaks to the way the challenge has captured attention well beyond Florida. For many, it combines the appeal of an outdoor challenge with the sense of contributing to a genuine environmental cause. That national and international draw amplifies the awareness benefits of the event, spreading the story of the Everglades python invasion far beyond the state's borders.

The record removal total is a measure of the competition's tangible output, but wildlife managers are careful to frame the numbers in context. Each snake removed is a benefit to the ecosystem, yet the total captured during the challenge represents a fraction of the overall python population in the Everglades. The event's value lies as much in awareness and engagement as in the raw count of snakes taken during its 10 days.

The Broader Python Removal Effort

The Python Challenge is the most visible piece of a much larger and continuous effort to control Burmese pythons in Florida. Beyond the annual competition, removal work continues year-round through programs that employ contracted hunters and through the efforts of agencies and partners working across South Florida. These ongoing efforts operate outside the spotlight but form the backbone of the state's response to the invasion.

Researchers also continue to develop and test new tools to locate and remove the snakes, given how difficult they are to detect. The persistent challenge of finding pythons in the vast and dense Everglades landscape has driven interest in a range of detection and removal techniques, all aimed at improving the effectiveness of a control effort that must contend with a well-entrenched population.

The tourism and awareness dimension of the challenge feeds back into this broader effort. By drawing participants and media attention, the event helps sustain public support and involvement in python removal, encouraging people to report sightings and to understand the stakes for the Everglades. In a control effort that depends heavily on human eyes and hands, that engagement is itself a valuable resource.

What Comes Next

When the competition closes on July 19, the immediate work of tallying removals and awarding the $25,000 in prizes will give way to the longer, quieter task that defines the python problem. The snakes removed during the challenge represent a meaningful contribution, but the invasion will persist, and the year-round removal programs will continue their work across the Everglades in the months that follow.

Wildlife managers will look to the 2026 event's participation and removal totals as indicators of public engagement and, potentially, of trends in where and how pythons are being found. Each year of data adds to the understanding of the invasion and helps refine the strategies used to combat it. Whether the 2026 challenge surpasses last year's record of 294 removals will be one closely watched measure of the effort's momentum.

For the Everglades, the stakes remain as high as ever. The Burmese python is likely to be a permanent feature of the landscape for the foreseeable future, and the goal is control rather than elimination. The Florida Python Challenge, with its prizes, its national draw, and its blend of competition and conservation, has become a fixture in that ongoing fight and a reminder of what is at stake for one of America's most treasured ecosystems.