Indonesian Woman Thought Missing Found Inside 7m Python's Stomach

It is hard to believe that a person being eaten by a snake is such a rare event, but similar incidents occurred in Indonesia in 2017 and 2018, resulting in the deaths of two people. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

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[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] In Indonesia, a woman in her 50s was swallowed whole and killed by a giant python.

On the 26th (local time), foreign media such as the BBC and The Guardian reported that a woman in her 50s was found dead after being swallowed whole by a python in Jambi Province on Sumatra Island on the morning of the 24th.

The woman named Zahra was attacked by the python while on her way to work at a rubber plantation on the morning of the 23rd (local time). Villagers searching for the missing woman found a python with an abnormally swollen belly, and the police, suspecting that the missing person had been swallowed by the snake, captured the python and cut open its belly to find the body.

The local police chief of Jambi Province said in an interview with the media, "The body was found inside the snake's stomach," adding, "It was almost intact when discovered."

Local residents reported that the python was approximately 7 meters long. Pythons usually ambush their prey, wrapping their entire body around it and crushing it. When the prey exhales, the python tightens its grip to suffocate it. This causes the prey to die from suffocation or cardiac arrest within minutes. Afterward, the python swallows the dead prey whole. Their jaws are connected by very flexible ligaments, allowing them to open their mouths wide.

However, sometimes pythons misjudge the size of their prey. In 2005, a Burmese python, belonging to the python family, attempted to swallow an alligator whole in southeastern Florida, but the prey was too large, causing the snake's body to rupture. Both the python and the alligator died, and the local patrol later found them.

It is hard to believe that a person could be swallowed by a snake, as such incidents are extremely rare. However, similar cases occurred in Indonesia in 2017 and 2018, resulting in two deaths. Over the past five years, all pythons that have eaten people in Indonesia were reticulated pythons. Reticulated pythons can grow over 10 meters long, making them large and powerful.

Mary Lou Low, a reticulated python expert and researcher at the Singapore Wildlife Reserve, explained in a past interview with the BBC, "Human shoulder bones do not fold, so it is not easy for a python to swallow a person." She added, "Pythons generally eat small animals like rats, but when they grow to a certain size, they cannot get enough nutrients from rats alone, so they look for larger prey." She further explained, "Since pythons can grow as large as their prey, they can eat large animals such as pigs and even cattle."

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