Python (snake)

Modern humans have lived alongside pythons for thousands of years. The giant species have been treated with both reverence and fear. Pythons have been widely associated with fertility, water, and the Earth. Some African tribes have worshiped pythons as protective spirits. Among Aboriginal Australians the Rainbow Serpent is associated with the water python. In Hinduism, the demon Agha took the form of a python to attack the god Vishnu.

The World Conservation Union (also known as IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) list all species of pythons as vulnerable and one subspecies of the Indian python as endangered. Python skins are exported from parts of Asia and Africa, mainly from animals killed in the wild. Pythons are also eaten as food in some areas. Some local populations routinely kill wild pythons out of fear.

Pythons have become popular in the United States as exotic pets, including large species such as the Burmese python. Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons have been imported into the United States and sold to private owners. Captive breeding of pythons for the pet trade generates millions of dollars in the United States and Europe. The colorful and unusual skin patterns and generally docile nature of some species are seen as attractive qualities. Even a relatively small python is a powerful animal, however, and pet pythons occasionally strangle people if the snakes are mishandled or stressed. Any python over 3 m (10 ft) long needs at least two people for safe handling.

In recent years, some pet owners have set large Burmese pythons free in the Florida Everglades, creating a major concern for conservationists and for rangers in Everglades National Park. Feral pythons adapt well to the near tropical conditions and have bred in the park. The pythons add a new nonnative top predator to the wildlife in the region. They are also a possible danger to unwary humans. Dozens of pythons are now captured and removed from the park in an average year. In one widely reported incident in 2005, a 4-m (13-ft) python in the Everglades burst and died after eating a 2-m (6-ft) alligator, possibly because the hefty meal began to decay before the snake could digest it.

Scientific classification: Pythons make up the family Pythonidae. The reticulated python is classified as Python reticulatus, the Indian python as Python molurus, the African rock python as Python sebae, and the ball python as Python regius. The green tree python is classified as Morelia viridis, the black python as Morelia boeleni, and the carpet python as Morelia spilota. The ringed python is classified as Bothrochilus boa and the white-lipped python as Leiopython albertisii. The so-called New World python Loxocemus bicolor, found in Mexico and Central America, is not closely related to true pythons and is classified in the family Loxocemidae.