The results are in for this year’s Florida Python Challenge, and there’s a new champion. Ronald Kiger claimed the $10,000 grand prize after capturing 20 Burmese pythons during the 10-day hunt in the Florida Everglades.
Kiger, who came in second place last year, finally took the top spot for 2024. The competition brought in more than 800 participants from 33 states and Canada, and together they removed 195 pythons from the wild.
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The prize money was divided among the novice, professional and military categories. Donna Kalil was just one python away from catching up to Kiger. She caught 19 pythons in the professional category, earning her $2,500.
Marco Rodriguez took home $1,500 for catching 16 pythons and Quentin Archi earned $1,000 for capturing the longest python in the category, coming in at 8 feet, 11 inches. Participants were required to humanely kill the pythons and bring them to a check station in South Florida.
The event wrapped up a month ago on Sunday, Aug. 18. Last year, over 200 pythons were removed by the challenge, and Paul Hobbs took the grand prize with 20 pythons removed. At that time, Kiger bagged 14 pythons and secured the runner-up prize.
Beyond the prize money, the event serves a greater purpose, bringing attention to the environmental harm caused by Burmese pythons. Chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Rodney Barret praised the efforts, saying that over 14,000 pythons have been removed since 2017.
