What Are Oenpelli Pythons?

[Asharee133]

Saw these in a thread, they look like a giant antaresia

 

[Elapidae1]

Oenpeeli is an area in Arnehm Land quite rare and large python

 

[Asharee133]

Hmm..alright Anyone keep these? or strictly arhnemland property?

 

[Elapidae1]

dunno would be interested to find out cos Arnehm Land is Aboriginal land and i'm fairly sure they are confined to a very small area

 

[Asharee133]

im interested in seeing photo's lol

 

[Elapidae1]

Am reading up on it now it is one of australias largest pythons 3.5 - 4.5m and one of few pythons that can change its colour it is listed as being a scarce but secure population

 

[Asharee133]

they say they are restricted to 35,000km of sandstone in arnehm land and there is a population of 10000 mature indivituals and that they are vunerable

 

[ivonavich]

And they are not in captivity there was a well known breeder who had his Oenpellis confiscated by the Authorities years ago.....

 

[ozziepythons]

While some have been kept in captivity here is Aus. very few (or just a few) are in a zoo or wildlife park (in NT?). However, they have been successfully smuggled out of the country and turned up in the reptile collections overseas. Which is a shame since we are the custodians of our reptile fauna, it should be Australians conducting captive research on this species, not smugglers on the international black market. Then again, maybe there are some kept quietly in captivity by illegitimate keepers here? Anyway, there was an awesome thread on Australian Reptile Forum recently on Oenpellis, maybe check it out was a good read

 

[pythons73]

Why dont any private Australian people keep them,they are native to Australia so i gather we should be able to keep them,i remember a Queensland reptile keeper had some and from memory he successfully breed them only to get them confiscated from him,which is a real shame.They are one snake i would love to own also the White Lipped....MARK

 

[mysnakesau]

And they are not in captivity there was a well known breeder who had his Oenpellis confiscated by the Authorities years ago.....

Why? Aren't we allowed to have them?

Oh I vaguely remember reading about that somewhere, might be the book I've borrowed from Jamie - the only person who has successfully bred them in captivity had them taken from him by so-called authorities who demanded to take over and continue the breeding and they had never bred again, and that breeder never got them back either. There are ppl in our country who are gifted with knowledge and those who gain their knowledge from a book without any hands-on experience and those are the ones who may very well be responsible for species disappearing.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Oenpelli Pythons are not listed on the current NSW DECC Species List.
So, as is stated in the notes at the start of the list, if it's not listed with a code, generally it cannot be kept.

Yet White Lipped Pythons are on there.......sigh

 

[mysnakesau]

Yeah and any white lipped pythons you happen to pop on your books you will be accused of catching or buying from NG. My book says they are Australian native yet only found in Ne Guina land.

 

[notechistiger]

I vaguely remember that no one could have them because the Aboriginals considered them "sacred" of a sort, and no one was allowed to take them from the area to establish them in captivity.

 

[Just_Joshin]

Peter Krauss did have them and successfully bred them. They were confiscated by NPWS. I think it was back in the 80's

 

[Elapid]

I vaguely remember that no one could have them because the Aboriginals considered them "sacred" of a sort, and no one was allowed to take them from the area to establish them in captivity.

Yep, That's the reason.

Quite ridiculous really

 

[percey39]

its unfortunate that there is no way around this situation with it being sacred land, as i would love to have one of these in my collection quite an impressive looking snake

 

[Just_Joshin]

I believe there is a way around it.....only it involves 6-7 figures, which no one is willing to put up yet.

 

[RCW74]

I don't think its ridiculous that because these animals occur on sacred ground that they aren't allowed to be harvested by herpers. I quite like the idea of these wild animals and their relatively prisitine environment just being left alone...especially given how much of Australia has been pillaged for all manner of things over the last couple of centuries.

I'm sure that with appropriate negotiations in time the keepers of the land where the oenpellis live may see benefits in professional herpers taking limited numbers to establish a captive population for the collector market. If not, so be it.

In the mean time, we should be grateful that we are getting access to greater numbers of python species, variations and numerous other reptiles at more affordable prices. There will always be those out there that want one (or more) of everything but.... tough luck :shock:

 

[Elapid]

I don't think its ridiculous that because these animals occur on sacred ground that they aren't allowed to be harvested by herpers. I quite like the idea of these wild animals and their relatively prisitine environment just being left alone...especially given how much of Australia has been pillaged for all manner of things over the last couple of centuries.

I'm sure that with appropriate negotiations in time the keepers of the land where the oenpellis live may see benefits in professional herpers taking limited numbers to establish a captive population for the collector market. If not, so be it.

In the mean time, we should be grateful that we are getting access to greater numbers of python species, variations and numerous other reptiles at more affordable prices. There will always be those out there that want one (or more) of everything but.... tough luck :shock:

Yeah God forbid we ever start to evolve

Sorry buddy but everyone has a right to be able to see and keep these snakes.