This new species, the northern African python (also called the African rock python), sounds particularly dangerous. Is it?
The African pythons are often described as exhibiting unpredictable defensive behavior in captivity, but there’s no information to suggest that free-ranging African pythons are more or less likely to attack humans than are Burmese pythons. The situation is somewhat similar to that occurring in human-alligator interactions. There are rare fatalities recorded, but it is often difficult to determine what precipitated the incidents. More typical python prey in Florida tends to be rabbits, wading birds, and rodents. We know from press and other accounts that there have been deaths of a few infants, children, adolescents, and adults from pet pythons in this country, but USGS does not track this kind of information. Such attacks are usually defensive and have largely occurred when owners are handling the snakes. A recent exception occurred when a pet python escaped its cage and strangled a 2-year-old girl in the same home. This tragic and unusual incident demonstrates that predatory attacks b
