The body of an Indonesian palm oil farmer was discovered – completely intact – inside the belly of a 23-foot-long reticulated python earlier this week according to the Jakarta Post.
Akbar Salubiro left his house headed for a nearby palm oil plantation on March 26 and never returned. After 24 hours, a search party was assembled when neighbors discovered a reclining python not far from Salubiro’s home. The snake was notably engorged and apparently, the man’s boots were visible in the stomach of the large constrictor.
“People had heard cries from the palm grove the night before Akbar was found in the snake’s stomach,” Village secretary Salubiro Junaidi said. “When the snake was captured, the boots Akbar was wearing were clearly visible in the stomach of the snake.”
“Residents cut open the belly of the snake and Akbar was lifeless,” he said.
While incidents such as this one are rare, these large predators have been known to consume humans. According to the Post, the snake’s habitat in the region is shrinking due to the booming palm oil industry, causing these snakes to seek out additional food sources.
“Because the habitat is destroyed, the snake’s natural food sources are also affected. Thus, the snake went out to the palm oil plantation to seek prey,” agriculture lecturer Rahmansyah from Hasanuddin University in Makassar, told the Jakarta Post.
The video of the villagers cutting open the snake and exposing the fully-intact victim inside is available for viewing on YouTube if you’re into that sort of thing.
