It sounds like the kind of competition you might see on a reality TV show, purely for entertainment purposes. Imagine hundreds of competitors traipsing through the Everglades to capture Burmese pythons, all in pursuit of a substantial cash prize.
Yet despite the obvious excitement involved, the Florida Python Challenge is no frivolous competition. Instead, it’s an important conservation effort aimed at protecting vulnerable native species in South Florida's ecosystem that are threatened by invasive pythons.
Burmese pythons were originally introduced in Florida as pets, but the nonvenomous constrictor snakes have since become a major problem for the state, especially in the Everglades. With their immense size and appetite, few predators, and astounding fertility (a female can lay up to 100 eggs at a time), Burmese pythons are a threat to native mammals, birds, and even other reptiles.
This year's event, held over 10 days in July, attracted 934 competitors from 30 U.S. states and Canada. It took place across Everglades National Park and seven wildlife management and small game hunting areas around South Florida. To register, all participants had to complete online training on safely capturing and humanely killing pythons.
This year’s champion, 29-year-old Taylor Stanberry of Naples, Florida, was the first woman to win the challenge. This was her debut in the Florida Python Challenge, though she’s been hunting invasive snakes in South Florida for around a decade. Stanberry, whom some news outlets were quick to dub the “Swamp Queen,” captured 60 pythons – a competition record. Helpfully, 30 of those snakes were found in a single nest. Stanberry’s longest python was close to 10 feet long, more than double her height of 4 feet, 11 inches.
She took home the Ultimate Grand Prize of $10,000. Several of the other top prizes for professionals were also captured by women, including Donna Kalil, who captured 56 pythons, and Hannah Gray, who captured 22. Michael Marousky, competing in the novice division, captured the longest python in the challenge, which measured an astounding 15 feet, 11 inches.
The Python Challenge has been held annually since 2013, supported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the South Florida Water Management District, and Everglades National Park.
On the hunt for pythons:
