This is the first time this type of attack has been documented.
There is one too many pythons in this territory.
The reticulated python is a species of constrictor snake (suffocates its prey between its coils) that, as an adult, can easily measure between 4 and 9 meters. The Burmese python is also one of the largest snake species in the world.
These two snakes share roughly the same territories, i.e. forests, gardens or farms that are located in the Bandarban district. Also having the same prey (lizards, birds and mammals), it doesn't take much for these two predators to behave belligerently towards each other. And sometimes, as was the case in 2020, it turns out even worse than expected.
A big python eating an even bigger python
The Burmese python that ate the other python was 3.04 meters long. The reticulated python, whose tail was still visible at the time of its discovery, was therefore already “on the way to his digestive tract”.
The fact is that the reticulated python is one of the largest snakes in the world. The largest ever found measured nearly 9.75 meters, found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in 1912. As for the longest Burmese python, found in Florida in 2023, it measured “only” 5.79 meters.
Given these measurements, the documented predations concern more that of the reticulated python on the Burmese python. This reverse situation is unprecedented, according to the researchers. How could this altercation have taken place?
How did the attack take place?
In a new article, published in 2024 in the scientific journal “Reptiles and amphibians“, scientists have taken a very serious look at this strange scene, which can indeed be confusing.
According to scientists, “[Le python birman] had grabbed a reticulated python by the tail and coiled tightly around its prey before swallowing it head first. The reticulated python tried to defend itself by squeezing the Burmese python, but it loosened its grip […]. It took about two hours from the initial hit to complete ingestion.”.
The mystery seems to be solved…
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