Killing Pythons for Cash Lures Hunters to Florida Everglades
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A flourishing population of Burmese pythons in South Florida is devouring animals such as bobcats and opossums, and threatening endangered species. So the state devised a solution: offer cash for hunters to kill them.
More than 670 hunters from at least 30 states have signed up for a contest called the “Python Challenge,” which begins Jan. 12 and offers $5,000 in prize money for those who slay the longest and largest number of the invasive snakes. They’ll trawl 1.3 million acres (526,091 hectares), including part of the Everglades National Park, looking for snakes that the state says threaten the ecosystem and native wildlife.