East Bay regional park staff are keeping an eye out for a full-grown python that was dumped at Anthony Chabot Regional Park.
The snake was dumped at the MacDonald staging area and disappeared from there, said Jen Vanya, a spokesperson for the East Bay Regional Park District. It wasn't immediately known when exactly the python was dumped.
“I was frankly terrified because I’m really scared of snakes,” said Anna Hoffman, who snapped the picture of the snake on Super Bowl Sunday.
She posted the pictures on social media and immediately contacted park officials because she knew it wasn’t a normal snake sighting.
“It appears to be an adult snake. It was probably a pet someone had four to 20 years, decided they didn’t want it anymore and discarded it like a piece of garbage,” said Oakland Zoo Manager Adam Fink. “The chances of them harming you is zero.”
That’s not stopping park rangers from being on the lookout for this scary looking non-venomous reptile.
"As a non-native snake, it is not well-adapted to our outdoor climate so it’s probably holed up trying to stay warm," Vanya said in a statement.
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Park staff are watching for the snake at every gate, Vanya said.
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If the snake is found, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will be contacted to capture it and remove it.
Abandoning any type of animal is illegal in East Bay regional parks.
“It’s not direct abuse but it’s indirect animal abuse,” said Fink “These species are not meant to be in this environment.”
