A biosecurity expert isn’t too alarmed by the discovery of a snake on an Auckland construction site earlier this week.
The 115cm juvenile non-venomous carpet python was found on Tuesday at a Papakura construction site. Biosecurity New Zealand said it may have been alive when it was found.
But Dr Catherine Duthie, a biosecurity risk adviser for the Ministry for Primary Industries, said the local climate “isn’t the best for snakes” anyway, meaning “it may not have survived” for much longer in the instance it hadn’t been spotted by a construction worker.
“We have an excellent biosecurity system which meant that the worker at the construction site was able to contact us really quickly in order for us to come and do something about it,” Duthie said.
She said because the “accidental Australian hitchhiker” was male, there wasn’t a chance of it reproducing and ruining New Zealand’s snake-free environment.
Biosecurity NZ removed the snake, which is believed to be a carpet python, and say there is no threat to the public. (Source: Other)
Duthie said there were only about two snake incursions a year in New Zealand. She said many were non-venomous and were usually dead upon discovery.
The most likely way the reptile got into the country was through a pipe that had been sealed at both ends before it was imported from Australia.
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