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Invasive python found slithering in Kahaluʻu

The ball python was under 3 feet long, but ball pythons can grow up to 6 feet in length.
Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture
The ball python was under 3 feet long, but ball pythons can grow up to 6 feet in length.

A live ball python was turned into the Honolulu Zoo Wednesday afternoon under the state's Amnesty Program.

The person who turned in the snake wished to remain anonymous but told the Zoo that the snake was found in Kahaluʻu.

Zoo personnel identified the snake as a non-venomous ball python. The state Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch then took custody of the snake.

The animal was under 3 feet long, but ball pythons can grow up to 6 feet in length.

HDOA said that ball pythons typically consume small mammals — posing a threat to Hawaiʻi's delicate native ecosystem as well as humans and pets.

Snakes are illegal to transport or possess in Hawaiʻi, but under the amnesty program, illegal animals can be turned in without criminal charges or fines.

“Surrendered animals will not be euthanized and may eventually be relocated to an appropriate facility on the mainland," said HDOA chairperson Sharon Hurd in a statement.

Illegal animals can be turned in to an HDOA office, any municipal zoo or aquarium, or the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Anyone with information about illegal animals can call the statewide toll-free pest hotline at 808-643-PEST (or 808-643-7378).

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