The pregnant female, a reticulated python, was found under a fallen tree and taken captive by Emergency Services staff. She died a few days later, but not before she managed to lay some eggs. Herme Herisyam, operations chief for Penang's Civil Defence Department's southwest district, said it wasn't clear why the snake perished. We might hazard a guess: presumably people rough-handling and even kicking her, as they can be seen doing in a video, did not help. That, and stress from being caught while giving birth might have led to her demise.
After discovering the snake, the construction workers proceeded to pose for several pictures with her, tagging at her and lifting her up onto their shoulders. The giant snake instantly became a public attraction and put on display at the Civil Defense Department's operation centre in Bayan Lepas before she died. And so it goes: another magnificent animal perishes from maltreatment.
The reticulated python (Python reticulatus), so named for the beautiful gridded pattern on their skin, is endemic to Southeast Asia and is among the largest snakes in the world. They tend to be longer than anacondas but generally less robust. Reticulated pythons prefer to live near fresh water sources and are very good swimmers, which has enabled them to colonize smaller islands around the region. They are fairly common across Malaysia and are kept as pets by snake enthusiasts worldwide.
Like all pythons, they are constrictors, killing their prey by squeezing them to death. They are ambush predators and largely feed on birds and smaller mammals, but they can also take down wild boar and deer, swallowing their prey whole, hoofs, antlers and all. Females tend to be longer than males and lay up to 80 eggs at a time. Newborns are about 70cm long and start hunting mice, birds and lizards pretty much the moment they hatch.
The previous record holder as the world's longest snake in captivity was Medusa, a reticulated python in Kansas City, in the US, which is 7.67 meters long and weighs around 160 kilograms. In 1912, a 10 meter-long reticulated python was shot and killed in Sulawesi, in Indonesia.
A huge python caught in Malaysia is believed to be the longest snake ever captured, after initial estimates measured the reptile at more than 8m.
The reticulated python was spotted curled under a tree by workers on a building site for a new flyover in Paya Terubong on the popular holiday island of Penang.
The staff called civil defence department personnel who took about 30 minutes to capture the snake. They later posed for photographs that illustrated the creature's size.
The Malaysian snake died on Sunday after giving birth, Herme Herisyam, operations chief for Penang's Civil Defence Department's southwest district said.
The Guinness Book of World Records currently accords the title for longest snake in captivity to Medusa, also a reticulated python, which lives in Missouri in the US and measures 7.6m when fully extended.
But when it comes to tipping the scales, Medusa is a relative lightweight.
The python caught in Penang is estimated to weigh nearly 250kg while its American counterpart comes in at about 158kg.
Medusa is currently on show in "The Edge of Hell Haunted House" in Kansas City. It is advertised as "the largest man eating python in captivity" and is fed on a diet of rabbits, hogs and deer.
The Guinness World Records organisation will need to confirm the measurements of the Penang pretender to the title before Medusa is officially displaced.
Sightings in the wild of even longer snakes have been reported, but not confirmed. A python shot in Indonesia in 1912 was reportedly about 10m-long.
A 5m reticulated python was discovered by horrified walkers floating dead in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Lancashire in 2015.
Python reticulatus, also known as the Asiatic reticulated python, are normally native to south east Asia and are the world's longest snakes.
They are non-venomous constrictors and are normally not considered dangerous to humans. But large specimens have been occasionally claimed human casualties.
In 2009, scientists in Colombia have found the fossilised bones of a "monster"snake that is believed to have reached 12.8m in length and weighed more than a tonne.
The creature, which has been named Titanoboa cerrejonensis, lived in the South American rainforest more than 60 million years ago and is the largest snake ever to have slithered the earth.
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