With Florida’s annual Burmese python hunt wrapping up Sunday (July 20) at 5 p.m., the next phase of the 2025 competition will be the announcement of the winners, including the $10,000 grand prize recipient for most pythons caught.
According to Lisa Thompson, spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, this year’s winners will be announced “in a few weeks after all data has been processed and verified.”
A total of $25,000 in prize money will be distributed to winners in three categories − professional, novice and military.
How many hunters participated in the 2025 Florida Python Challenge?
This year’s competition started at 12:01 a.m. on July 11 at eight competition locations. Thompson said there were 933 total registered participants this year coming from two countries (U.S. and Canada). That was up from 857 participants in 2025.
“And we had 30 states represented (including Florida),” Thompson said.
Florida Python Challenge 2024 results. 195 pythons removed
Last year, according to FWC, 195 Burmese pythons were removed. Ronald Kiger (20 Burmese pythons removed) was the 2024 Grand Prize winner.
How serious is the python problem in Florida?
Burmese pythons have wrought destruction in the Florida Everglades. They’ve contributed to the decline of small mammals including raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, marsh rabbits and cottontail rabbits.
A recent study revealed that Burmese pythons can eat prey much larger than previously reported. Scientists observed a Burmese python swallowing a 77-pound white-tailed deer, nearly 70 percent of the snake’s mass.
What is the Florida Python Challenge?
The Florida Python Challenge is a ten-day competition encouraging participants to remove Burmese pythons from seven Commission-managed lands in South Florida.
According to FWC, the event is held to raise public awareness about invasive species in Florida, like Burmese pythons, that are a threat to the Everglades ecosystem.
Where was the 2025 Florida Python Challenge held?
The Florida Python Challenge took place at these eight competition locations:
Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area
Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area
Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area
Everglades National Park
Frog Pond North Public Small Game Hunting Area
Holey Land Wildlife Management Area
Rocky Glades Public Small Game Hunting Area
Rotenberger Wildlife Management Area
Florida Python Challenge 2025 prizes
Along with the$10,000 top prize for the most pythons caught, this is the breakdown by category:
Professional Category
Novice Category
Military Category
Burmese pythons in Florida must be humanely killed
If you catch a Burmese python in Florida, you must humanely kill the snake where it was captured. Transporting live pythons is not allowed.
Two steps must be completed to kill a python humanely:
How many Burmese pythons are in Florida?
“Burmese pythons are hard to find due to their cryptic coloration and secretive behaviors, and their low detection probability is a major challenge to effective python control and research,” according to Florida Fish and Wildlife.
However, conservative estimates by the USGS put the Burmese python population in the Florida Everglades region in the tens of thousands.
Can Burmese pythons ever be removed from Florida?
Because Burmese pythons are distributed across more than a thousand square miles of southern Florida, including all of Everglades National Park and across the southern coast, the chances of completely eliminating the snake from Florida is low.
Controlling their numbers and preventing their spread out of the area are critical goals for conservation efforts and land managers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Python Challenge 2025: How many pythons were caught in annual hunt?
Reporting by Mark H. Bickel and Kim Luciani, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
