A 12-foot-long reticulated python was rescued from the IIT-Madras campus on Thursday night. The rescued reptile was rehabilitated in Children’s Park by Chennai wildlife officials.
Chennai wildlife warden E Prasant told TOI that security guards on night duty on the IIT-M campus saw a python crossing a road in March. The reptile was rescued and released into the Guindy National Park (GNP). Last month, the python was spotted on the IIT-Madras campus.
Wildlife officials set up trap cages in three places. “On Thursday night, the reptile was rescued and rehabilitated,” he said.
State wildlife board member Shravan Krishnan, who was part of the rescue team, said it was a surprise for everyone to spot a reticulated python in the city, as they are found only in Greater Nicobar Islands in the Andamans in the country.
Prasant said they suspected that the reptile could have been possibly brought as a pet and when it started growing, the owner could have abandoned it on the IIT-M campus.
Reticulated pythons are one of the three heavy sized snakes, next to green anacondas and Burmese pythons. By nature, they are constrictors, which means they coil around their prey and crush it before devouring.
In Southeast Asian countries, there were several incidents of this python species devouring humans.
Talking about how the python survived on the IIT-M campus and the GNP, Shravan said the python might have been feeding on monkeys, palm civet cats and other smaller mammals in both the places.
According to Shravan, these pythons are one of the sought-after species in pet trade.