The Burmese python has become the defining ecological problem of the Florida Everglades, a giant constrictor from Southeast Asia that has established a self-sustaining wild population across the southern tip of the state.

Thomas Rahill claimed the top prize in Florida's 2026 Python Challenge after removing 96 Burmese pythons from the Everglades. Participants removed 280 invasive snakes during the annual conservation competition.

This Burmese python stands apart because of its striking granite pattern, which looks very different from the markings commonly seen in the wild. The keeper explains that the unusual trait began with a single wild snake before breeders carefully reproduced it in captivity.