Hi All,
Rarely look at the forums, but have been notified of this thread and would just like to clear a few things up.
Yes, in typical media fashion some stories from certain media outlets have grossly mis-quoted the statement regarding the 2nd ever captive breeding of Reticulated Pythons. That is of course complete rubbish as we all know they are bred in the thousands annually overseas. The correct quote should have been that Reticulated Pythons have only been bred in AUSTRALIA on 2 or 3 previous occasions (Taronga in the 1980's and Australia Zoo over 10 years ago)
A number of Zoo and Aquarium Association member institutions across Australia have expressed interest in aquiring a cumulative total of approximately 25 juvenile Reticulated Pythons. Eggs will only be incubated to meet regional demand and requirements, rather than too produce surplus animals. Eggs that are not required to be incubated will be destroyed long before hatching.
There are suprisingly few Reticulated Pythons and even fewer pairs held in zoo's and fauna parks across Australia and a number snakes that form the current captive population in Australia are relatively aged individuals, which is why there was/is a regional demand to breed this species.
Mark, send us a pm or give us a call if you still have my number...
Peter, that photo is ancient...!
Cheers
Alex