Massive 54kg python captured by snake hunters
A record-setting five-metre-long python has been captured by a snake hunter in the US.
The 54kg Burmese python was found by Kyle Penniston in Florida and is the largest ever to be captured in the state.
The female python was captured on Monday in Miami-Dade County.
The snake was caught as part of the South Florida Water Management District’s python elimination program.
“Just six months after eliminating the first 1000 pythons from District lands, this program is about to double that total because of a true team effort,” the SFWMD states on its website.
Mr Penniston has caught the second biggest number of snakes in the program so far with a tally of 235.
Miami snake hunter Brian Hargrove has captured a whopping 257.
The snakes are considered invasive to the area and a threat to the local ecosystem.
According to the SFWMD, the Burmese python breeds and multiplies quickly, and has decimated local wildlife in the Everglades area.
