A 9-foot-long python was recovered by city government officials and residents of Antipolo City on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
According to the city government, the reticulated python was spotted on Wednesday night inside the house of a family while they were sleeping.
They then called the city's Animal Control Team who immediately responded to the area and successfully caught the said python. The team turned over the reptile to the Provincial Environmental and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) for checkup and documentation.
Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares urged residents who may saw any snake in their homes to not try to catch, hurt, or kill the animal and instead immediately call the City Veterinary Office (CVO) (8689-4514) or inform their respective barangays.
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), reticulated pythons are native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia including the Philippines and lives in rain forests, woodlands, grasslands, rivers and nearby streams, and lakes.
The snake's conservation status is currently listed as least concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because of its wide distribution.
According to wildlifelearningcenter.org, these snakes are heavily dependent on water and can often be found near small rivers or ponds and require tropical environments.
It added that these types of python can weigh up to 350 lbs and is considered by many as the largest and longest snake in the world.
The largest reticulated python ever measured was 32 feet, 9.5 inches and holds the record for the largest snake in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991.