Len Talif wants SFC to probe video clip of giant dead python in Lingga
SRI AMAN: Assistant Minister of Urban Development and Resources Datu Len Talif Salleh wants Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) to probe a video clip of a dead giant python allegedly found at Tanjung Lutong forest in Lingga recently.
Len Talif, who is also SFC chairman, told The Borneo Post yesterday that the corporation should investigate the case since pythons are classified as endangered species.
“This ( dead python in the video) could have been the biggest python ever caught or sighted in Malaysia, or in the world. And if it is still alive we should take care of it.
“If it is dead, we have to preserve it,” he said when asked to comment on the video clip.
The python was allegedly killed by a group of land surveyors who were shocked to find the nine-metre-long python, estimated to weigh about one tonne, when they were conducting land surveying works in the forest.
A friend of one of the surveyors, who identified himself as Khairul, claimed that the group had to resort to taking “safety measures” as they were worried the giant reptile would threaten their lives.
“They found the python at the route that was used by them to the location where they were conducting survey works.
“Because of that, they were forced to kill the python because it was huge and they were worried that it would threaten their lives,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post’s sister paper Utusan Borneo yesterday.
According to Khairul, the group of surveyors consisted of nine men who work for a private company.
“They cannot be reached at this time because the area that they are in has no telecommunications coverage,” he said, adding the python’s carcass had been buried in the forest.
The video clip in question, which was uploaded on the Facebook page ‘ Sri Aman Youtuber’, received overwhelming reactions from netizens.
Some of them said it was justified for the python to be killed while others expressed concern that “one day it could harm or kill people”.