A six-feet long python weighing half a kilogram was caught recently by a citizen inside a poultry farm located at Brgy. Kirayan Tacas, Miagao, Iloilo.

             It was a Reticulated python and was surrendered to the DENR Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Guimbal through the help of police officers.

           CENR Officer Vicente Mellizas, Jr., with Melchor G. Gallego, Chief of the Monitoring and Enforcement Section of CENRO Guimbal received the surrendered python. The python was temporarily kept safe at CENRO Wildlife Rescue Center before its release to the wild.

            The Reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is a snake species native to the South and Southeast Asia. It is the longest snake in the world and usually hunted for its skin to use in traditional medicine and to sell as a pet. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List because it is widely distributed among other countries in South and Southeast Asia.

              It is important to conserve and protect these species as they play a key role in prey regulation amongst rodents in environments near farmlands and grasslands. “The natural world has its own check and balance. So it’s best not to harm them when people see them. We hope our communities keep turning them over for safe release and not kill them,” said Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla, Jr. of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.