Enormous Python Joins the Summer of Slither
July 5, 2011
If you haven’t already visited the Academy’s latest exhibit, Snakes & Lizards: The Summer of Slither, now’s the best time! In addition to more than 60 live reptiles, the Academy just unveiled the longest and heaviest snake in the building—Kirana, an 18-foot-long, 150-pound reticulated python (Python reticulatus). This feisty beauty can be seen through Labor Day on the Borneo level of the Rainforest dome.
Kirana is so large and powerful that during her entry physical, it took seven biologists to hold her! Watch video of the physical below.
Kirana was named by 9-year-old and aspiring herpetologist Bronwyn Miguel, who won the Academy’s Name the Snake contest. The snake’s yellow head and its native home of Southeast Asia inspired Bronwyn to submit the name “Kirana,” which means “beautiful ray of light” in Balinese.
Visit the Snakes & Lizards page to learn more about the summer of slither, now through September 5.
