Germany: Large dead python found in Berlin park

Employees at a Berlin parks department announced on Tuesday recovering the dead body of a 4-meter-long snake at Hasenheide park in the southern Neukölln district.

The lifeless snake, initially identified as a python, was found under a tree in the park, Berlin-Neukölln district authorities said on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear whether it was already dead at the time it was found, though the Neukölln district office said it "was severely malnourished" and that if it had been alive, it would have been "barely active or able to move" at the time, given the cold temperatures.

Authorities said they were conducting an autopsy to determine the exact species and investigate its sex and cause of death.

They will also try to determine whether the animal was already dead when it was dropped in the park.

What do we know about the snake's discovery?

The body of the snake was found by employees at the parks department on Monday.

"We're used to a lot in the district, but even we've never had this before: yesterday, our employees discovered a 4-meter-long dead Indian python in Hasenheide [public park]. Our official vets are now investigating the exact circumstances," the district office said on social media.

It described Indian pythons as "rather reserved and shy." However, it mentioned that keeping them as pets necessitates holding a permit from a veterinary authority, given their length, which can be more than 2 meters.

Calls for the public to come forward

First comments suggested officials were entertaining the possibility of an illegally-kept exotic animal that might have been dumped in the park after it died.

The office said it was unaware of any permits for keeping pythons in the district. It added that there were also no search reports of escaped animals that would correspond with the recovered snake.

It called on members of the public who might have  information regarding the python to come forward via email, posing two questions in particular:

"Who has information about the possibly unauthorized keeping of such an animal in Neukölln or neighboring districts? Who has observed [the snake] in Hasenheide in the past few days?"

rmt/msh (dpa)