20-foot-long python that swallowed a dog rescued from Palwal district

The python, suspected to be a female, was kept under observation to check if it had any injuries and was released in its natural habitat under the supervision of wildlife officials.

A 20-foot-long python was rescued by Gurugram and Faridabad wildlife officials on Wednesday from Gorota village (Hodal) in Palwal, 102 kilometers from Gurugram city, after villagers reported seeing the reptile swallow a stray dog in the fields.

The rescued python.

The python, suspected to be a female, was kept under observation to check if it had any injuries and was released in its natural habitat under the supervision of wildlife officials.

Around 1pm on Wednesday, the residents of Garota, heard a dog squealing in the fields. When they checked, they saw a python trying to swallow the canine. They tried to save the five-year-old stray dog, but could not.

The villagers called the police who contacted Vinod Kumar, the additional principal chief conservator of forests. Kumar directed the wildlife squad in Faridabad and Gurugram to rush to the spot. The rescue operation was led by wildlife enthusiast Anil Gandas, who led the rescue operation, and Faridabad wildlife guard Rajkumar.

“The villagers tried to pull the dog out, but the snake had swallowed it. The Indian Rock Python has a strong digestive system and it can swallow and digest an animal the size of a dog or a goat. This is the fifteenth rescue operation this month,” Kumar said.

The incident has left the villagers worried as children roam freely in the fields. “This is the first time we have witnessed such an incident. Our domestic animals are tied in the fields or outside our houses during the night. No, we are scared to even come in the fields as the size of python was huge. It can even swallow any one of us,” Ram Kumar, one of the villagers, said.

Gandas said that despite intense coordination with villagers, it took the team over half an hour to capture the reptile, which weighted about 20kg. “This is not the first time pythons have come out of the forest and preyed on animals in the field. They have killed three in the area this year,” he said.

Last month, 13 Indian Rock Pythons were rescued from Gurugram, besides 20 monitor lizards and 12 cobras.