Snake On The Loose: 5ft Python Found In Park

The "feisty" reptile - thought to have been an exotic pet that escaped or was dumped - is seen slithering in a London park.

The carpet python is normally found in Indonesia and parts of Australia

A five-foot snake on the loose in a public park has been captured by police.

The carpet python - which is usually found in areas such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and parts of Australia - was spotted in Wandsworth, south London.

Scotland Yard officers were called to King George's Park on Monday night, where the reptile was found slithering along the edge of a fence.

It is not clear how the snake - which is not venomous and has a natural diet of small mammals and birds - ended up in the park. 

The RSPCA said the reptile, which kills its prey through constriction, was "feisty" and a "challenge to handle" for its new carers at Putney Animal Hospital.

Superintendent Steve Wallace said a team of officers caught the "slippery customer" with a bag.

He tweeted on Tuesday: "Slippery customer! PC (Faye) Castleman attended King George's Park yesterday - reports of large snake on the loose.

"Sgt Wainwright attended with a ballistic bag and handed it PC Terry who captured the animal - safely delivered to Putney Animal Hospital."

It happened a day after two Royal Pythons - also not venomous - were found abandoned at a playing field in Twickenham on Sunday morning, about eight miles from St George's Park.

Those snakes are now being cared for at South Essex Wildlife Hospital.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: "Carpet pythons are not venomous, but can grow quite large - up to six feet long - so it could have become unmanageable for the owner.

"It is still unclear whether these two cases are connected.

"We see a rise in abandoned or escaped reptiles during the summer months, so it could be that these snakes were seen because they were active, due to the warm weather this weekend.

"These snakes are not native to the UK so are likely to have been exotic pets. It is not known for sure whether they escaped, or were dumped."