A woman went to work at a rubber plant in Indonesia but was reported missing after failing to return home that night. A day later, villagers found a 22-foot python with something large in its stomach…
Woman goes missing after walking to work
Jahrah, a grandmother in her 50s, had made her way to work on Sunday at a rubber plantation in Indonesia’s Jambi province, where she worked as a rubber tapper.
But that evening, Jahrah failed to return home from her rubber-collecting duties. Search parties were sent out to find her, the BBC reported.
The next day, the woman’s husband went to where his wife worked and discovered her sandals, jacket, and a knife. But there was no sign of her, according.
The husband then brought a search team into the area, and they found a large, 22-foot python with a huge bulge in its belly.
They found the reptile near the village of Betara in Indonesia’s Jambi province, located on Sumatra island, the Washington Post reported.
The villagers had a strong feeling about what happened, but they needed to be sure.
Snake swallowed woman whole
Fearing the worst, locals caught and killed the snake, then sliced open its stomach to examine the contents, Yahoo reported.
Upon slicing the monster python open, the villagers’ fears were confirmed.
“The victim was found in the snake’s stomach,” Betara Jambi police chief AKP S Harefa told local media outlets. The chief said her body appeared to be largely intact when it was found.
“The victim’s body was not destroyed when we found her inside the snake, meaning that she had only been recently swallowed whole,” a spokesperson for the police said.
“After they cut the belly apart, they found it was Jahrah inside,” Chief Harefa told CNN Indonesia.
The dining habits of pythons
Incidents of pythons killing humans are very rare. However, it is not the first time it has occurred in Indonesia. Two similar deaths were reported there between 2017 and 2018.
The jaws of pythons are connected by very flexible ligaments, giving them the ability to stretch around large prey, and thus they swallow their food whole. Pythons have eaten animals as large as pigs and even cows.
“In essence they can go as large as their prey goes,” said Mary-Ruth Low, conservation & research officer for Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
While pythons typically dine on rats and other small animals, a snake expert told the BBC, “Once they reach a certain size, it’s almost like they don’t bother with rats anymore because the calories are not worth it.”
Snake experts in Indonesia believe the reason the python chose Jahrah as prey was due to a lack of food in the area where they would typically feed on wild boar.
One snake expert stated that pythons don’t move very far from their habitat, and if there aren’t any wild boar to eat, they are going to choose “Plan B.”
