A Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission-sponsored program to assist in removing invasive Burmese Pythons is underway. The Florida Python Challenge, which began in 2013, aims at bringing awareness to Florida's fight against the apex predators.
"Our whole goal of the Python challenge was to start raising awareness about invasive species issues as a whole. We are doing this by actively engaging the public in conservation through removal of invasive species, the Burmese pythons," said McKayla Spencer, the Program Coordinator of FWC's Nonnative Fish & Wildlife Program.
Since the program began over a decade ago, 917 Burmese Pythons have been removed, according to FWC. This years event has around 700 participants so far.
"Raising awareness, outreach and education is extremely important because that helps make people become aware of not only this species, but other species, and what can they do to help. That helps us further control the species and stop their spread," Spencer said.
Burmese pythons are an environmental disaster for the Florida Everglades. The snakes can grow up to twenty feet long, lay 100 eggs per clutch, and are apex predators, according to FWC.
"Pythons are native to Southeast Asia, and they have invaded Florida. They've actually been here and sighted since the 1930s, but we didn't actually learn that they had a breeding population until 2000. They probably had been breeding here for a long time.
When you have an invasive species, they pretty much dismantle the food web, and research is showing that up to 90% of mammal declines in many different species," said Christina Anaya, a biology professor at Florida Gulf Coast University.
The 2024 Florida Python Challenge lasts until Sunday, Aug. 18, at 5 p.m. If you would like to sign up, you can do so throughout the challenge. You can find the link to the application and mandatory online training here.