Hunters Vie for $25,000 in Prizes to Protect Florida's Ecosystem The 2025 Florida Python Challenge™ officially began today, with hundreds of registered participants already scouring the Everglades in a crucial effort to remove invasive Burmese pythons.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the American flamingo is one of the largest species of flamingo and averages some 5 feet tall. A survey conducted in 2024, spotted around 100 American flamingos in the wild around the Sunshine State.

One of the largest flocks of flamingos in a decade was recently spotted in the Everglades by avian ecologist and restoration scientist Mark Cook.

One of the largest flocks of American flamingos in the last decade was spotted in the Everglades recently, the South Florida Water Management District said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Mark Ian Cook, a wildlife and scientific photographer, wrote on Facebook that he saw the group of 115 birds late last week.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called a lawsuit filed against him by his democratic colleagues frivolous and ridiculous.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski criticized the remote location of the detention site called "Alligator Alcatraz" and the rhetoric surrounding it.

Florida Python Challenge begins July 11, bringing hunters to the Everglades to remove invasive Burmese pythons that threaten native wildlife in south Florida's ecosystem.