Forest officials rescue a python in Ambur near Tirupattur

The forest officials deny reports on social media that the python had coiled around a man

The forest officials rescued a 10-foot-long Indian python in Kailasagiri village near Ambur in Tirupattur on Tuesday.

The officials denied reports on social media that the python had coiled around a man. He was one among the onlookers when the two-member forest team reached the village to rescue the python. The team comprised forest guards M. Rajkumar and C. Murthy.

“The man was not rescued from the python. In fact, our team found it challenging to safely rescue the python from the huge crowd that thronged the village during the operation,” L. Sankaraiah, forest range officer (Ambur), told The Hindu.

It was around 3.45 p.m. on Tuesday when the officials received an alert from a group of women that the python was found in the bushes near their house in the village. Immediately, a team from Ambur, at a distance of 10 km from the village, reached the spot. After nearly an hour, the team managed to rescue the python, which weighed around 15 kg. Officials said that Kailasagiri village is located around 100 metres from the Ambur Durgam reserve forest (RF). So it was common for pythons from the RF to move around these villages as they have poultry farms and goats in their backyards. The pythons move to these villages, mainly in search of food. Later in the day, the rescued python was released into the forest.