SEATTLE – An 18-foot-long female reticulated python, estimated to be 20 years old, has died at Woodland Park Zoo.
The snake died Friday, a day after undergoing surgery for removal of retained eggs.
Preliminary necropsy findings pointed to possible complications of heart disease as the cause of death, zoo spokeswoman Gigi Allianic said.
Strikingly patterned and weighing as much as 185 pounds, the python “drew many ‘oohs and aahs’ from visitors,” said Dana Payne, zoo animal curator. “Monthly programs during which we fed the snake for visitors were very popular. She will be missed.”
The snake was confiscated from a private owner by Seattle police and moved to the zoo in 1988. She was about 6 feet long then, and estimated to be about a year old.
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