Pythons found abandoned on country roads in Devon

Two Pythons usually found in sub-Saharan Africa have been found in rural Devon. 

Tropiquaria Zoo was called on Friday 30 August when a motorist found a Royal Python. 

Staff attended the man’s house and collected the snake. Examination confirmed the snake had a possible injury and had previously been well fed and cared for.

The rural nature of the location where it was found suggested that it had almost certainly not escaped from anywhere nearby, and staff started to suspect it had been abandoned.

For this reason a social media campaign was set up to try and find the owner. 

Despite the story having been shared more than 600 times and viewed over 80,000 times in 48 hours, no one came forward.

A second call on Sunday 1 September afternoon identified a second similar snake in the area. Again, a member of the Tropiquaria staff team was deployed to collect it. 

This appeared to be an older animal, fit and healthy, but with small healed heater burns on its back. 

It was very cold and was brought back to Tropiquaria for care.

Finding the second snake so close to where the first one had been found makes it highly likely that this was a deliberate abandonment.

Tropiquaria Zoo director, Chris Moiser, said, “This species is from sub-Saharan Africa, and to release them into the British countryside, particularly as autumn is coming on is a cruel and totally unnecessary act that would almost certainly lead to the slow death of the animals unless they were recovered quickly. 

“In view of the remote location of where they were found it seems likely that there was no intention that they should be found. It is almost certainly a criminal offence under both the Animal Welfare Act, and the Wildlife and Countryside Act to release these animals under these circumstances. 

“Additionally we do not know if the owner just released these two, or if there are other reptiles still out there.

“We know that even responsible loving owners may not be able to continue to look after their animals because of the current economic climate and energy costings, but even so there are organisations such as the National Centre for Reptile Welfare who will take them and re-home, and can often even arrange collection when the need is urgent and compelling. 

“This makes the actions of this owner even more despicable, when just a few minutes research on the internet would have led to a satisfactory and humane conclusion.

“Fortunately abandonment is very rare, the vast majority of responsible owners do re-home through rescue centres if they need to. It is the odd case like this that gives the animal rights groups the ammunition to call on the government to legislate against the private keeping of exotic animals, when the great majority of owners are very responsible, care for their animals, and educate friends and family about their pets.

“Many larger zoos would not get involved in this sort of situation. Tropiquaria takes the view that as part of our educational obligations we should help where we can, and where our staff knowledge can help the local community (both human and other species) we should do what we can. In this case doing so has realistically cost us several hours of staff time, on a limited budget, a few pounds in fuel, and a modest amount in vet bills.”