LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The hunt’s about to begin in the Florida Everglades. The annual Florida Python Challenge, kicking off July 11, invites hunters from across the state to take part in a 10-day competition to capture and remove invasive Burmese pythons. $25,000 in prizes are on the line, including a $10,000 grand prize for the most pythons removed.
While the annual event brings out eager competitors, scientists like Dr. Andrew Durso, Associate Professor of Wildlife Biology at Florida Gulf Coast University, say the ecological impact of the challenge is limited.
“Pythons are huge snakes. They're top predators,” Durso says, "They eat a lot of our native wildlife. Many species of native wildlife have declined by 90 plus percent in the Everglades over the past 25 years since pythons have become well established.”
Watch as Durso explains how the consequences go beyond the food chain:
Durso says the disappearance of mammals from the ecosystem has led to a spike in mosquito-borne diseases, since there are fewer animals for mosquitoes to bite, making humans a more frequent target.
The Python Challenge only lasts ten days, and Durso says that limits its effectiveness. It's more-so designed for fun and awareness.
“It's over a very short period of time, so the impact of the challenge in terms of actually managing pythons is very small,” he says, "as a scientist, I can say that the data suggests the Python Challenge is a very small drop in the bucket.”
To truly manage the python population, year-round efforts are underway. Federally funded “scout snake” programs use GPS-tagged males to track breeding females which can lay up to 100 eggs at a time and have no natural predators in Florida. These long-term programs, backed by federal and state agencies, are aimed at more effectively reducing breeding and slowing the northward expansion of the species.
Durso says he worries budget cuts will undo the progress of scout snake programs and lead to the northern expansion of pythons.
The Florida Python Challenge is open to both professionals and novices. The competition requires a $25 registration fee and completion of an online training course.
