It’s official, the Florida Python Challenge this year has a winner.

The $10,000 grand prize went to Ronald Kiger, who removed 20 Burmese pythons from the Florida Everglades during the 10-day hunt, which was meant to bring awareness to the threat that these pythons pose to the ecosystem. Last year, he was the direct runner-up to the grand prize winner.

Representatives from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Kiger’s win in a Tuesday morning meeting in Duck Key. This year, more than 800 people from 33 states and Canada participated in the challenge, and hunters removed 195 Burmese pythons from the wild.

The rest of the prize money was divided amongst competitors in the contest’s three categories: novice, professional and military. Donna Kalil was one python away from a tie with Kiger. Kalil, a contractor with the South Florida Water Management District, got a $2,500 prize for catching 19 pythons in the professional category.

“I’m not afraid of that python,” Kalil recently told CBS News. “I’m afraid of it getting away.” 

Also in the professional category, Marcos Rodriguez caught 16 pythons for the prize of $1,500, and Quentin Archie won a $1,000 prize for catching the longest python in this category at 8 feet 11 inches.

Thomas Hobbs won $2,500 for leading the novice category by catching 16 Burmese pythons, while Dennis Krum caught the longest python in this category and also in the entire competition, at 9 feet 11 inches.

Jeff Lince caught five pythons, winning $2,500 in the military category, and Antonio Ramos won $1,000 for catching the longest python in this group at 9 feet 7 inches.

The challenge occurred in mid-August. Hunters were tasked with humanely killing the Burmese pythons and turning in the carcasses to any of the contest’s three check stations in South Florida.

The challenge wasn’t just meant for hunters to win the share of about $25,000 in prizes. It also served to raise awareness about the dangers of Burmese pythons, like how they affect native snakes, can spread diseases amongst native animals and have high mercury levels that are dangerous for human consumption.

“Over 14,000 pythons have been successfully removed by FWC and South Florida Water Management District contractors since 2017,” said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in a news release. “This collective effort continues to have a direct positive impact on the Everglades and our native wildlife through removal and awareness.”

This year’s competition was a little bit smaller compared to last year. In 2023, more than 1,000 hunters participated and 209 pythons were removed.

“Every invasive python that is removed makes a difference for Florida’s environment and its native wildlife,” South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Member Bergeron.  

Hunters contracted with the state’s wildlife commission and the South Florida Water Management District work year-round to remove the invasive pythons from the wild. A female python can lay about 50 to 100 eggs at a time, which is why the competition is held during hatching season in August. According to the wildlife agency, about 22,000 pythons have been removed from the state since 2000.

The Burmese python population exploded in the mid-90s after being imported from South Asia as exotic pets. Burmese pythons are usually between six to nine feet but can grow over 15 feet long. They are non-venomous and generally do not attack people or pets, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, but pose a threat to wildlife indigenous to the area.

Native bird, rabbit, raccoon and deer populations have been decimated, and even gators have fallen prey to the constrictors. They have no natural predators. 

Six members of a Kansas-based cult have been convicted in a scheme to house children in overcrowded, rodent-infested facilities and force them to work up to 16 hours a day without pay while subjecting them to beatings and other abuse. The children, prosecutors say, were told they would burn in “eternal hellfire” if they left.

The defendants were either high-ranking members of the organization formerly known as the United Nation of Islam and the Value Creators, or were wives of the late founder, Royall Jenkins, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday in announcing the verdict.

After a 26-day trial, jurors convicted all six defendants of conspiracy to commit forced labor. One of the six, Kaaba Majeed, 50, also was convicted of five counts of forced labor.

“Under the guise of false pretenses and coercion, these victims, some of whom were as young as eight years old, endured inhumane and abhorrent conditions,” FBI Special Agent Stephen Cyrus said in a written statement.

Prosecutors said the group, which was labeled a cult by a federal judge in 2018, beat children and imposed severe dietary restrictions. One of the victims was held upside down over train tracks because he would not admit to stealing food when he was hungry, prosecutors said. Another victim resorted to drinking water from a toilet because she was so thirsty.

Jenkins, who died in 2021, had been a member of the Nation of Islam until 1978, when he founded the separate United Nation of Islam. He persuaded his followers that he was shown the proper way to rule the Earth after being “taken through the galaxy by aliens on a spaceship,” according to the indictment. At one point, the group had hundreds of followers.

Prosecutors said that beginning in October 2000, the organization ran businesses such as gas stations, bakeries and restaurants in several states using unpaid labor from group members and their children.

Parents were encouraged to send their children to an unlicensed school in Kansas City, Kansas, called the University of Arts and Logistics of Civilization, which did not provide appropriate instruction in most subjects.

Instead, some of the child victims worked in businesses in Kansas City, while others were trafficked to businesses in other states, including New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Georgia and North Carolina, the indictment alleges.

“The victims all lived in deplorable conditions, in overcrowded facilities often overrun with mold, mice and rats,” prosecutors said.

There were strict rules about what they could read, how they dressed and what they ate, prosecutors said. Some were forced to undergo colonics. Punishments included being locked in a dark, frightening basement, prosecutors said.

They were told they would burn in “eternal hellfire” if they left.

“In contrast, the defendants and their immediate families lived comfortably,” prosecutors said.

In May 2018, U.S. Judge Daniel Crabtree called the group a cult and ordered it to pay $8 million to a woman who said she spent 10 years performing unpaid labor.

Sentencing hearings are set for February in the child labor case. The convictions carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison for Majeed and up to five years for the other defendants: Yunus Rassoul, 39; James Staton, 62; Randolph Rodney Hadley, 49; Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, 43; and Dana Peach, 60.

Emails seeking comment were sent Tuesday to attorneys for all six defendants.

Two other co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor.

“The United Nation of Islam and these defendants held themselves out as a beacon of hope for the community, promising to educate and teach important life skills to members, particularly children,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Instead, the defendants betrayed this trust, exploiting young children in the organization by callously compelling their labor.”