It's still a big snake, just not a record-breaker.

When a recreation park in Indonesia put a huge reticulated python on show last week, keepers insisted to reporters it was 49 feet long. That made it the longest ever caught.

But amid growing skepticism of the claim, a photographer working for Reuters returned to the Curugsewu park in the small central Java town of Kendal Wednesday with a measuring tape. The snake's true length -- around 21 feet

"I have no idea why the snake has shrunk," said one keeper when asked about the discrepancy, as the snake lounged on a tree branch inside its cage.

According to the Guinness World Records, the longest discovered snake was also a reticulated python from Indonesia. It was 33 feet long when found in Sulawesi island in 1912.

In 2002, Samantha, a 25-foot snake which was dubbed the largest in captivity, died in the Bronx Zoo in New York. Samantha came from Indonesia's side of Borneo island.

Record-breaking or not, word of the huge snake in Kendal has spread, tripling the number of visitors to the state-run park, normally known just for its scenery and waterfalls.

Close

Today's Top News		Top Lifestyle News
+Millions to be laid-off as SOEs streamline ( 2004-01-08) +'Iron belt' readies financial revival ( 2004-01-08) +Five dead, two injured in building fire ( 2004-01-08) +Watchdog to ensure venue building clean ( 2004-01-08) +Progress in DPRK issue hailed ( 2004-01-08)		+What Xmas means to me ( 2003-12-12) +Climate change kills 150,000 in 2000, says WHO ( 2003-12-12) +Gene map of Chimpanzee published ( 2003-12-12) +2003: Lifestyles of the young ( 2003-12-12) +Model-turned-actress Maggie Q feeds Q-riosity of excellence ( 2003-12-12)