It is in the Age now:
Giant python seized in Geelong March 31, 2006 - 12:18PM
A giant python capable of eating a small child when it grows to full size has been seized by Victorian authorities.
The Burmese python, now just over two metres long, was among one of the largest ever stashes of illegal exotic snakes surrendered to the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE).
The snakes, including two adult and nine juvenile boa constrictors, were handed in last night by a Geelong-based reptile keeper - who was acting on behalf of the owners.
The snakes are likely to be destroyed.
The reptiles have a reputation for spreading disease and eating family pets and the DSE is keen to banish them from Victorian households.
"There's a long list of exotic reptiles we don't want to see here in Australia, and these snakes would be near the top of the list," DSE senior investigator Keith Larner said.
"These things have run amok in the United States, killing people's pets, getting in the waterways and eating alligators in Florida's Everglades National Park.
"People find out how big they grow, and how much they eat, and then dump them. This would be catastrophic here in Australia, as it is proving elsewhere."
Burmese pythons are native to Burma, Vietnam and Thailand and can grow up to six metres long and weigh 90kg.
Boa constrictors are native to South America and are the most commonly kept exotic snake in Australia.
Four have been found roaming free in Melbourne and the DSE fears it is only a matter of time before they run wild.
Snake owners risk fines of up to $110,000 or two years jail for harbouring illegal species.
While there is no official amnesty period on exotic reptiles, Ms Larner said people who voluntarily surrender their snakes will not be prosecuted.
The DSE is urging anyone who has exotic reptiles to contact its customer service centre anonymously on 136 186 to arrange for the animals to be collected through a third party.
