Prony, Bohol’s beloved python, dies

BACLAYON, Bohol, Philippines – Prony, the country’s superstar python, died of still unknown cause yesterday.

Georgia Salibay, wife of Prony’s owner, Eugenio Salibay, said the female python was 17 years old.

The python was named after Eugenio’s brother Sofronio, who caught her in Albuquerque town in this province.

Local officials claimed she was the largest snake in captivity, although no official record has been taken.

Salibay said she was told by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that the lifespan of the Philippine python (Reticulatus) is only about 15 years while in captivity. When they are in the wild they survive up to 40 years.

Prony weighed about 280 kilograms and measured 23 feet. The center of her body was measured at 34 inches, She was kept in a steel cage.

Salibay said she and Sofronio caught her on Oct. 31, 1996 somewhere in Albuquerque cemetery, about three kilometers from here. Prony was then five feet long and weighed five kilos.

Since then, Prony had become famous as the biggest python in captivity, she said.

She also became the center of attraction not only among local tourists but also foreigners, who dropped by here on their way to other tourist attractions, Salibay said.

Prony, adopted by the Salibay family as their pet, was in hibernation in the past days, Salibay said.

She was fed two hogs weighing 65 pounds every month.

Despite Prony’s death, Salibay said her family would continue to offer visitors another python, since the family is now maintaining two pythons, a male and a female.

Prony’s remains were taken by authorities to determine the cause of her death, Salibay said.

However, the family wants her to be preserved and exhibited at her den.