Python on the loose on beachfront - SA Press Item

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: SUNDAY TIMES (Rosebank-Johannesburg, S Africa) 05 March 00 Python on the loose on beachfront (Thabo Mkhize) : A beachcombing python has been giving the staff of Durban's Fitzsimons Snake Park the runaround. : The three-metre-long reptile - believed to be an African rock python - has been spotted on Sunkist Beach, along the Golden Mile. Craig Smith, co-owner of the park, said staff had not succeeded in finding the snake. : This week the park placed a person on duty to try to track down the slippery customer. : Smith said the snake had most likely been washed down to the sea by the floods. : "The python is more likely to be killed by humans than killing someone. It can bite but it is not poisonous," he said. : African rock pythons are a protected species. They are prized for their skin, meat and fat, which is used in traditional remedies. : Smith said he expected the annual "snake season" to extend until April because of the hot weather, which began later than usual. : This was the reason for the increase in the number of snakes seen in suburban gardens. :

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