Largest ever python measuring 17ft and weighing 215lbs has been captured

A record-breaking Burmese python measuring 17ft in length was discovered in Florida.

Weighing 215 pounds, it is believed to be the largest ever found in the sunny US state – which is where the species was first introduced in the 1970s, likely from the exotic pet trade.

Biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida captured the top predator, which normally reaches an average size of 8ft to 10ft, and took it to its lab in the US city of Naples to be photographed.

The team used radio transmitters transplanted in male ‘scout’ snakes to study the python movements, breeding behaviours and habitat use.

‘How do you find the needle in the haystack?’ said Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and environmental science project manager for the conservancy’s programme.

‘You could use a magnet, and in a similar way our male scout snakes are attracted to the biggest females around.’

The team used a scout snake named Dionysus – or Dion for short – in an area of the western Everglades.

Ian added: ‘We knew he was there for a reason, and the team found him with the largest female we have seen to date.’

Biologist Ian Easterling and intern Kyle Findley helped capture the female snake and haul it through the woods to the field truck.

A necropsy found hoof cores in its digest system, meaning that an adult white-tailed deer was its last meal.

The snake was also carrying a ‘record number’ of 122 eggs, meaning she was a reproductively active female.

‘The reproductive potential of these animals is very, very high, and that’s an understatement,’ ecologist Kristen Hart said.