{"id":335925,"date":"2026-07-10T17:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/335925\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T17:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:08:09","slug":"2026-florida-python-challenge-now-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/335925\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Florida Python Challenge now open"},"content":{"rendered":"

EVERGLADES, Fla. (WWSB<\/a>) – Registration is open for the 2026 Florida Python Challenge, a 10-day competition aimed at removing invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District are hosting the annual challenge. The event begins at 12:01 a.m. July 10 and runs through 5 p.m. July 19. Registered participants will compete for a share of $25,000 in prizes while helping raise awareness about nonnative species in Florida.<\/p>\n

The top prize is $10,000 for the registered participant who removes the most pythons. Prizes will also be awarded in professional, novice and military categories, with special recognition and prizes for veterans and active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to announce the dates for this year\u2019s Florida Python Challenge, which will be our ninth such event to date,\u201d FWC Executive Director Roger Young said. \u201cWe look forward to the Challenge each year as a way to raise awareness about nonnative fish and wildlife, while also encouraging the public to get involved in Everglades conservation by removing invasive Burmese pythons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participants must register and complete required online training at FLPythonChallenge.org. Participants are required to read the rules, complete the 2026 version of the required online training and pass a quiz with a score of at least 85%. Training from a previous year is not valid for 2026 registration.<\/p>\n

The online training takes about 45 minutes and covers how to identify Burmese pythons and native snakes, along with safe handling and humane killing methods. Participants will need the code from their training certificate to complete registration.<\/p>\n

Registration costs $25 and is nonrefundable. Each participant must register individually, even if they plan to work as part of a team. Pythons may only be submitted under the name of an individual participant, and prizes are based on individual submissions, not team totals.<\/p>\n

Novice participants may not transport live pythons at any time. Only permitted individuals may transport live pythons. Anyone who kills a native snake will be disqualified.<\/p>\n

Florida-sanctioned black bear hunt ends with 52 bears killed<\/a><\/p>\n

Everglades National Park is returning this year as a partner and one of eight official competition locations, according to FWC.<\/p>\n

Last year, participants removed a competition-record 294 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades. FWC said 1,406 pythons have been removed through all Florida Python Challenge competitions to date. In 2025, 934 people from 30 states and Canada registered for the event.<\/p>\n

Burmese pythons are not native to Florida and negatively affect native wildlife, according to FWC. The agency said the invasive snakes are found mainly in and around the Everglades ecosystem, where they prey on birds, mammals and other reptiles. More than 27,000 Burmese pythons have been reported removed from Florida\u2019s environment since 2000.<\/p>\n

Outside the competition, Burmese pythons may be humanely killed on private property at any time with landowner permission and without a permit or hunting license, according to FWC. Python removal opportunities are also available year-round on 32 commission-managed lands.<\/p>\n

People not participating in the challenge can still help report nonnative wildlife year-round. Sightings of Burmese pythons, other nonnative snakes, Argentine black and white tegus and monitor lizards can be reported through IVEGOT1.org, the free IVEGOT1 app or the FWC Invasive Species Hotline at 888-IVE-GOT-1.<\/p>\n

More information about the challenge, rules, training and registration is available at FLPythonChallenge.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WWSB. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EVERGLADES, Fla. (WWSB) – Registration is open for the 2026 Florida Python Challenge, a 10-day competition aimed at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[138342,138343,28,30,29,138341,138344,138345],"class_list":["post-335925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-burmese-python-removal-florida","tag-everglades-invasive-species","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-python-challenge-2026","tag-florida-python-competition-registration","tag-fwc-invasive-species-reporting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}