Illegally-Owned 13-Foot Burmese Python Rescued From New York Home

A massive Burmese python was rescued from a New York Home last week. The snake was 13 feet 2 inches (4 meters) long, weighed 80 pounds (36 kg) and was getting too big to handle for the owner, the New York Post reported. Jeff Hull, an Environment Conservation Police Officer (ECO), recognised the snake as a Burmese python by a feature on its head that resembled an arrow.

According to a Facebook post by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), "On August 28th, 2024, Environment Conservation Police Officer (ECO) Jeff Hull responded to a complaint of a subject with a large snake that the complainant didn't believe to be legal. After seeing a picture of the snake, ECO Hull was able to identify it by the arrowhead-like design on its head as a Burmese python."

It added, "Burmese pythons are illegal to possess in the state of New York without a permit." 

When ECO Hull arrived at the residence, the thirteen feet long snake was kept in a four-to-five-foot aquarium. The snake's anonymous owner claimed he "was not prepared for how fast the animal would grow and that he recognized he could no longer care for it." 

The owner was given tickets for both keeping wildlife as a pet and having dangerous species in the house without a permit. The snake was then taken out of the house and given to Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo in Rome, New York, which has the permits to house the snake.

Native to Southeast Asia, Burmese pythons are becoming a popular pet choice in the US. In Florida, they are an invasive species that feeds on local fauna.

The maximum length of a Burmese python is 16 feet (5 meters). The albino Burmese python captured in New York was yellow in colour and had a head pattern resembling an arrow.