TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man is doing his best to help remove invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades.
Aaron Mann captured 87 pythons in July as a part of the South Florida Water Management District’s python program.
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) said Mann captured the most pythons of any hunter last month, earning himself a $1,000 prize.
Christina Kraus was alongside Mann for all of the captures out in the field.
Hunters can take a shot at tracking down the large reptiles through the program, which launched a new incentive system this year.
Now, python removal agents are paid $50 for each python — up to 4 feet in length — that they catch. An additional $25 is added for every additional foot about 4 feet.
The hunter with the most pythons in a single month wins $1,000.
According to SFWMD, the challenge is meant to help cull the population of snakes that, with no natural predators, threaten the ecosystem by aggressively preying on birds, mammals, and other reptiles.
Since 2013, more than 20 tons of Burmese pythons have been removed from a 200-square-mile area in Southwest Florida, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said in June.
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