The annual Florida Python Challenge has slithered to its conclusion, with professionally categorized python purger Ronald Kiger crowned its victor after he removed 20 Burmese pythons from the Florida Everglades.
Kiger received a $10,000 grand prize. Representatives from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced his win Tuesday morning in a meeting in Duck Key.
Kiger, last year’s runner-up, tipped the scales this year, reaching first place by only one snake.
His win follows a 10-day hunt in which over 800 people from 33 states and Canada competed for about $25,000 in prize money. The winnings were divided among competitors in the three categories: novice, professional and military. The commission revealed 195 Burmese pythons were removed from the wild.
Donna Kalil, a contractor with the South Florida Water Management District, rattled the competition, almost tying Kiger. In the end, though, she won a $2,500 prize for catching 19 pythons in the professional category.
“It can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing,” she said. “A big snake can definitely kill you. If it gets around your neck, it could definitely strangle you out.”
The longest snake caught in the entire competition, regardless of category, measured in at 9 feet 11 inches (3 meters).
The competition is strategically held in mid-August each year: hatching season. A female python can lay about 50 to 100 eggs at a time, so hunters are tasked with humanely killing them and turning in their carcasses to three check stations in South Florida.
But for Kalil, it’s not just about the contest. She has been hunting Burmese pythons since 2013, and she goes out almost every night, hoping to add another snake to her catch record. Her catch count is 993 snakes. She hopes to reach 1,000 by next week.
“When I realized that there was a problem with pythons out there in the Everglades it’s like, ‘I can do something about that,’ and I started looking for them,” she said. “I do love it. I found a purpose in life.”
The hunt is designed to bring awareness to the invasive threat of the Burmese python species in Florida. They are found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem in South Florida, where they prey on birds, mammals and other reptiles. Burmese pythons can spread diseases among native animals, affect native snakes and have high mercury levels that are dangerous for human consumption.
“Every invasive python that is removed makes a difference for Florida’s environment and its native wildlife,” “Alligator Ron” Bergeron, a member of the South Florida Water Management District governing board, said in a news release.
According to the wildlife agency, about 22,000 pythons have been removed from the state since 2000.
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