Miami (CNN) — Burmese pythons have been threatening Florida’s ecosystem for years, so the state is turning to the public for help in the form of a hunting contest to cull the population.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Saturday launched the 2013 Python Challenge.

“We are hoping to gauge from the python challenge the effectiveness of using an incentive-based model as a tool to address this problem,” says Florida Wildlife Commission spokeswoman Carli Segelson.

A grand prize of $1,500 will be awarded to the person who kills the most pythons, and $1,000 will go to the person who bags the longest one. According to the rules, road kill will not be eligible.

Participants paid a $25 registration fee and completed an online training course. The training focuses on safety while hunting pythons.

Read more and see video here – http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/06/us/florida-python-hunt/index.html