PENANG (Web Desk) – A giant python found on a Malaysian building site, that may be the longest ever caught, has died, officials say.
The estimated eight-metre long (26ft) snake was spotted Thursday under a fallen tree on the island of Penang, the BBC reported.
It died on Sunday after giving birth, Herme Herisyam, operations chief for Penang’s Civil Defence Department’s southwest district said.
The current record for longest snake ever caught is 7.67m, Guinness World Records says.
Medusa, a reticulated python, is kept at a haunted house in Kansas City, Missouri.
The python caught in Penang is estimated to weight nearly 40 stone (250 kgs) while its American counterpart comes in at about 25 stone (158 kgs).
The Malaysian snake is currently being held in at the civil defence headquarters but will be handed to the state wildlife department. Its final home is not yet known.
Reticulated pythons, who have a gridded pattern on their skin that gives them their name, are normally three to six metres long and can be found in water.
Longer snakes could be living in the wild. In 1912, a python found and shot in Indonesia was reportedly 10 metres long.
