Sai Kung python attacking dogs

[DocMartin Williams]

Explore Sai Kung and the South China Morning Post have recently had reports on a four-metre python attacking a man's dog, on a trail between Pak Tam Chung and Tai Mong Tsai Road, in the Sai Kung area. The man – Bob Stearns – managed to save his dog by pulling the python by its tail: it let go, released the dog, and Mr Stearns and the two dogs he had been walking made their escape.

Explore Sai Kung account at:

Phoebe and the Python

The SCM Post noted this is the third attack on a pet dog in the area since around 2006.

I emailed Paul Crow, at Kadoorie Farm, noting:

Quote:

Had occurred to me that pythons might be predating feral dogs in New Territories, esp as feral dog numbers perhaps artificially high given pet owners abandoning people.

So, maybe not so much aggressive snake, as one or more snakes have learned to target dogs (more than might otherwise do in wild?)

 

Just a guess, though!

And of course could be dangerous for people, maybe not just toddlers. Met a field guy in Borneo, who said he wondered if someday might be attacked by python as he walked animal trails through forest.

He replied:

Quote:

Not sure  if the python dog thing is escalating or not or its just an unlucky run. Its possible a single animal now has a taste for dog  and a territory that it is well settled in. As for Human versus Burmese python danger this is a very unlikely but possible scenario with this species.  If you do a   web search for human /python incidents there tends to be 2 things emerge.  1.) People in wild habitat incidents with pythons are  get eaten/attacked by Reticulated pythons and not Burmese.

2.) Burmese that eat people are invariably pet animals and not in the wild.

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