A police search is under way for a pet python that managed to break free from its enclosure and escape from an apartment in Yokohama through an open window, according to local media.
The owner reported his pet snake missing on Thursday night, after he came home from work to discover that the snake’s glass container was empty, local news outlets said, quoting police. The owner, who lives in a second-floor apartment in Yokohama city, south of Tokyo, also said he had left the window open to ventilate the room. A team of 10 police officers have been combing through nearby woods and other areas to find the reptile.
The missing snake, a yellow reticulated python, is considered the world’s longest snake. It is native to south and southeast Asia and can grow to up to 9 meters in length.
© REUTERS / Dwi Oblo DW/GM
The reticulated python is often kept as a pet. In March this year, a 2.5-meter snake was found on a farm in Wales. It was handed over to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), who said it was likely an escaped or abandoned pet.
A license is required to keep a python as a pet. Police say the owner of the runaway reptile obtained a permit from the local government four years ago.
The reticulated python is not venomous but is able to constrict and suffocate its prey. It’s been known to prey on humans. In 2017 and 2018, a man and a woman in Indonesia were caught and swallowed by two specimens of the reptile while tending to their crops.
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