New Winner Emerges in Florida Python Challenge To Increase Awareness in Everglades

A wild challenge in Florida brings awareness to the threat pythons present to the region with a cash prize involved.

A Burmese python is held during a safe capture demonstration at a media event for the 2022 Florida Python Challenge, June 16, 2022, in Miami. / Mandatory Credit - AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File

Everywhere in the world, there are people who compete in hunting competitions. In Florida, there is a unique challenge that competitors not only can take home a prize for, but helps keep the environment safe.

The Florida Python Challenge is exactly what it sounds like. People compete in three divisions; novice, professional and military to help catch and humanely kill and turn in the carcasses of as many of the harmful snakes as possible to take home their portion of a $25,000 pot.

Major threats to the ecosystem, a 10-day hunt is had in the Florida Everglades to hunt Burmese pythons. Harmful to other snakes in the area, Burmese pythons also spread diseases to other wildlife and have dangerously high mercury levels for human consumption.

Despite the competition occurring in mid-August, the prize winners were just announced this week in Duck Key.

This year, the grand prize winner of the competition was Ronald Kiger, who removed 20 of the snakes from the Florida Everglades. He took him a $10,000 prize for his work. 

One python short of Kiger was Donna Kalil, a contractor for the South Florida Water District. She caught 19 and took home $2,500 in the professional category.

Marcos Rodriguez took home $1,500 for catching 16 in the professional category. $1,000 was awarded to Quentin Archie who caught the longest of professional competitors, with a python measuring 8’11”.

Leading the novice category with 16 captures was Thomas Hobbs, while Dennis Krum took home the prize for the longest at 9’11”. That was the longest snake caught in the competition, as they won $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.

The military division winner was Jeff Lince, who caught five of the Burmese pythons. The longest snake in this group was caught by Antonio Ramos, with his catch measuring 9’7”.

In total, more than 800 people competed this year, coming from 33 states and Canada to compete.195 Burmese pythons were removed from the wild, which will certainly help improve conditions for wildlife in the area.

“Over 14,000 pythons have been successfully removed by FWC and South Florida Water Management District contractors since 2017,” said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in a news release via Stephany Matat of the Associated Press. “This collective effort continues to have a direct positive impact on the Everglades and our native wildlife through removal and awareness.”

This year’s event was a little smaller than the 2023 edition, which had more than 1,000 hunters and 209 pythons caught. Since 2000, approximately 22,000 of the dangerous snakes have been removed from Florida.