50-foot python caught in Indonesia

CURUGSEWU, Indonesia, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Villagers on the Indonesian island of Java have caught alive a python that is almost 50 feet long and weighs nearly 1,000 pounds, The Australian reported.

If confirmed, it would be the largest snake ever kept in captivity, the newspaper reported Monday.

Hundreds of people have flocked to see the snake at a primitive zoo in Curugsewu village on the country's main island of Java, the daily reported.

A local government official said the reticulated python measured 49 feet and weighed in at 985 pounds.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the longest snalke ever ever captured to be 32 feet. The heaviest -- a Burmese Python kept in Gurnee, Ill., -- weighs 402 pounds, the book said on its Web site.

The Indonesian snake, which was caught last year but only recently put on public display, eats three or four dogs a month.

Reticulated pythons are the world's longest snakes. They are capable of eating animals as large as sheep, and have been known to attack and consume humans. The species is native to the swamps and jungles of Southeast Asia.