Longest python dies after laying an egg

The python laid an egg on Saturday before she died on Sunday. (Pic courtesy by Civil Defence Department/12-04-2016)

GEORGE TOWN: The 7.5m-long python, which received international publicity for possibly being the longest snake in the world and attracted large crowds, has died.

The snake died on Sunday, a day after it laid an egg, slightly bigger than a ping pong ball. It is believed that the snake was carrying more eggs.

On Monday evening, both the reptile and the egg were burned in an incinerator operated by the Penang Island City Council.

Penang Wildlife and National Parks director Loo Kean Seong said he believes there were more eggs in the python based on its physical appearance.

“It is difficult to ascertain the cause of death,” he said.

The capture of the snake at a road flyover construction site in Paya Terubong on Thursday – and its subsequent death – was featured in among others, BBC News, The Guardian and The Telegraph UK.

The snake, which was held at the Civil Defence Department’s (JPAM) operations centre in Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim, Bayan Lepas, before it was to be released into the wild, was the centre of attention for curious crowds.

Many took photographs with the animal and even touched it.

Blaming the department for mishandling the python, Sahabat Alam Malaysia president S.M. Mohd Idris said the animal should have been released into the jungle after it was caught.

“It is ridiculous for the department to keep the snake for three days and turning this into a public show. It must have been stressful for the snake.

“Humans have destroyed its natural habitat and it was forced to come out. Now, it’s dead,” he said.

However, Penang JPAM operations officer Second Lieutenant Muhammad Aizat Abdul Ghani said the python had looked weak after it laid an egg on Saturday night.

“It is our standard operating procedure to hand over snakes and monitor lizards to the Wildlife Department. It is not for us to release them into the wild,” he said.

Perlis Snake and Reptile Farm manager Samsulwadi Md Salleh said the snake could have been in its final years of life based on its length and size, adding that the species could live up to 25 years.