serpent catchers in the Sunshine State have captured an absolute monster of a serpent   – a pregnant Burmese python , count in at a very telling 63.5 kilograms ( 140 pounds ) .

Announcing their find onFacebook , officials at the National Park Service ( NPS ) say she is " the large python ever transfer from Big Cypress National Preserve " but have been a little cagey about her precise length . fit in to the post , she measure more than 5.2 meter ( 17 feet ) from top to give chase .

The former record - holder was a 17.1 - foot female person , weighing 60 kg ( 132 pounds ) . Though even larger Python have been found elsewhere , including a 5.5 - meter ( 18 - foot ) whopper apprehended inEverglades National Parkand a 7 - m ( 23 - pes ) giant atChester Zooin the UK .

As the name suggest , Burmese pythons are not native to Florida . Ecologists have been   struggling to handle and contain the alien species since the 1980s .

The original colonist are thought to be runaway positron emission tomography   win via the exotic pet barter . More were released into the natural state after Hurricane Andrew barrelled through and wrack a serpent nurture facility in 1992 .

In the yr comply , the python ’s impressive camo and ability to multiply at a rapid stride – this particular specimen had 73 develop eggs in her – has run across the serpent population mushroom . There are now mean to be tenner of hundred of Burmese pythons living in and around Florida ’s swampland .

The successful ( if unintentional ) settlement of the Burmese python has been catastrophic to the province ’s native wildlife . One2012 studyfound that the Everglades ' population of raccoons has fallen 99.3 percent , the opossum population 98.9 percentage , and the bobcat population   87.5 percent   – just since 1997 . Meanwhile , marsh hare , cottontail rabbits , and Fox have all but disappeared and other mammals , birds , and reptiles preyed on by the snakes are seeing decline .

While the prospect of obviate the python completely is , unfortunately , low , officials at the   Big Cypress National Preserve and others are doing their in force to manage the universe that is already there and prevent the range from enlarge any further . To do so , the team has recently adopted a proficiency involving a so - call " Judas " animal .

The idea here is that male python are tag with radio transmitters , which   track the snakes as they go in search of cover females , or follow baby pop to their mate . Once they have meet a conjugation partner wildlife officials can remove both snakes .

" The team not only take away the invasive snake in the grass , but collects data for research , develop new removal prick , and learn how the python are using the conserves , " the official wrote in thepost .

" The data will , over time , divulge the behavior of these snakes in their new district . But the more urgent demand is to capture and kill . "

Sadly , due to their big number , the most effective agency to deal with the trouble is to kill an invasive specie when it is found and so to this end , various agencies responsible for contend the balance of wildlife in the Everglades orchestrate regular python Holman Hunt .

As report in theThe Guardian , the 1,000th kill was reported by a hunter last class .