Outcry over giant python carried along Durban N2

Images of a group of people in KZN carrying a dead 5 metre long Southern African Rock Python have led to a flurry of comments online. (VIDEO)

Durban - Pictures of a group of people on the South Coast carrying a massive dead python have led to a flurry of comments online.

In the pictures and video, taken by Yolandi Pearce and posted on the East Coast Radio website and YouTube, a group of men and youngsters with a pack of hunting dogs is seen carrying the snake wrapped around a long pole. They were walking along the N2 highway near Umgababa.

African Snakebite Institute Managing Director Johan Marais told The Mercury that the snake was a Southern African Rock Python, which was a protected species, although not endangered.

Responding to posts, one Facebook user commented: “Despite that, they often are (killed) for their skin and muti. Drives me absolutely crazy. It’s not a trophy to be proud of.

“Yes, one can say it’s down to a lack of education, and I guess that’s true. But I still think it’s savage and they should be punished by the law.”

While another Facebook user also condemned the killing of the snake, he was not impressed by words such as savage, barbaric, and uneducated in reference to the black snake killers.

“We end up throwing insult to another it daz not help anyone.....i thnk our white people should mo vigilant on diction * my black people be less sensitive that we can have a fruitful debate (sic),” he said.

Marais described the python as “very dangerous”, even though it was rare to hear of cases where it had killed a person.

“In the last 100 years we know of one case where a person was killed, in Limpopo Province. It is dangerous, but it does not attack people easily,” he said.

He said that although abundant in southern Africa, the snake was still protected by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.

“It is still protected because some snakes like pythons are very large, they are easily accessible, so when people start hunting them they can kill lots of them.

“People have a history of killing snakes. They see a snake and they kill it. All people ... white farmers, black people, everyone,” he said.

He said that while some people killed snakes out of superstition and fear, others killed them as a food source.

“Shangaans like to eat them. When I am in Congo I see people killing snakes and eating them,” he said.

bongani.hans@inl.co.za

The Mercury