Stomach-churning footage shows a python being tamed - by training it to eat raw meat instead of live prey.
Footage recorded by snake expert and rescuer Panya shows the python swallowing dead chickens in Krabi, southern Thailand.
Panya, who runs a snake centre, said the reticulated python was caught inside a home but was unusually ferocious.
He said that National Park staff allowed his team at his snake park to take care of the wild python and study its behaviour before releasing it back into the wild.
Panya feared the snake would attack pets in the neighbourhood unless it could be tamed by teaching it to eat lifeless creatures.
He said: "We are studying wild snake behavior, so it's interesting to find out which meats the python will eat when they are fed.
''We are training the snake to eat raw meat instead of live animal victims, so that when it is released, we can reduce the problems of the residents' cats and dogs being eaten by this python.
''It will take time for the snake to become friendly, but when it's ready, it will be released again.''
Reticulated pythons are native to South and Southeast Asia. They are the world's longest snake and larger pythons can feed on cats, dogs, goats, pigs and occasionally, humans.
Footage recorded by snake expert and rescuer Panya shows the python swallowing dead chickens in Krabi, southern Thailand.
Panya, who runs a snake centre, said the reticulated python was caught inside a home but was unusually ferocious.
He said that National Park staff allowed his team at his snake park to take care of the wild python and study its behaviour before releasing it back into the wild.
Panya feared the snake would attack pets in the neighbourhood unless it could be tamed by teaching it to eat lifeless creatures.
He said: "We are studying wild snake behavior, so it's interesting to find out which meats the python will eat when they are fed.
''We are training the snake to eat raw meat instead of live animal victims, so that when it is released, we can reduce the problems of the residents' cats and dogs being eaten by this python.
''It will take time for the snake to become friendly, but when it's ready, it will be released again.''
Reticulated pythons are native to South and Southeast Asia. They are the world's longest snake and larger pythons can feed on cats, dogs, goats, pigs and occasionally, humans.
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Animals