Expert: Jonathan Wright - 5/15/2006

Question
I saw a program on the National Geographic channel called Super Snake. It focused on the two largest snakes, the Green Anoconda and the Reticulated Python.  Which one tends to be more aggressive?  If a Full grown tiger or leopard attacked a full grown Reticulated Python out of hunger and found itself incoiled by the python, does either animal has a chance of escaping the snakes grip or is it a hopeless situation for either cat? Taken further, is there any animal that if if caught in the coils of a big constrictor would be powerful enough to break the snakes grip?  Also considering that the Indian or Burmese python probaly lives in some of the same areas as the reticulated, do they avoid each other and if some how they come into contact what happens?  And finally if the Anaconda and Reticulated Python inhabited the same area and given that they both are semi aquatic, how would they probaly coexist?  If either was hungry enough, would it attack the other and if so which would come out on top?

                                          Thank You

Answer
Dear Wallace

Thanks for your questions. I shall try and answer each question separately. I have used several books and websites and wish to thank any sources I have quoted.

1. Is the green anaconda more aggressive than the reticulated python? Teresa Roberts (http://www.neaq.org/community/seabits/newsletters/99jul.html) says that anacondas are bad-tempered, but the Burmese python is equally crotchety, while several other large snakes are relatively placid. http://www.cyberlizard.plus.com/pythons.html says the reticulated python is aggressive. Ben (http://repticzone.com/forums/Pythons-Reticulated/messages/615539.html) says that anacondas win battles with reticulated pythons and may be more aggressive. I would guess that the green anaconda is more aggressive than the reticulated python, although I cannot verify this.

2. Can a tiger or leopard, or another animal, escape from the coils of a reticulated python? I saw a wildlife programme a few weeks ago, where Austin Stevens went in search of a reticulated python and extracted a python from the river bank. The python coiled around Austin Stevens, but Austin Stevens escaped. It is important to realise that there were other people around and I very much doubt if they would allow Austin Stevens to have been killed.  It seems that escape would depend on the reactions of the prey animal while it was being encoiled. If it aimed its teeth or claws at the python, I would guess that it could do enough damage to the snake that the snake would either die or would release its coils sufficiently for the prey animal to escape. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-python.html says that lions and leopards will kill pythons. Clifford H. Pope wrote ‘The Giant Snakes' (1961) and states that a dead Indian python was found with many porcupine quills sticking out from its belly.  While pythons can kill leopards, I would expect that a leopard could kill a python that was coiling round it, but that it would die if the coils prevented it from breathing. It really depends on its reactions to the python.

Doug G. (http://www.plv.ca/SS04_7.htm) describes a dream set in Africa. A python had wrapped a tiger in its coils and the tiger was struggling, biting and clawing at the snake, trying to hold the python behind its head. The snake tightened its coils to try to stop the tiger from breathing. The tiger tried to hold the snake's head underwater to drown it, as the two animals tumbled in a creek. The python unwrapped its coils and struggled to get away, but the tiger dragged it back into the water. Both accepted that they were equal adversaries and went in opposite directions. Please note that this was a dream and does not necessarily represent the situation in the wild.  
   
3. Do Indian and reticulated pythons come into contact with each other? It is important to realise that when closely related animals live in the same area, they usually carve out the ecological niche so they do not compete directly with each other. This includes choosing different habitats or feeding on different food sources. For example, African monkeys live in different levels of a tree. I suspect that the Indian and reticulated pythons share out the habitat, but if a python was feeding, a larger python could go for the same meal and eat the smaller python in the process. I have read about captive snakes eating other snakes in the same enclosure and suspect that similar situations could occur in the wild.

4. Could green anacondas coexist with reticulated pythons? This is a more complicated question. The answer depends on which animal is more adaptable and which is the native species. I would guess that the anaconda would survive better than the python in the Amazon and that the python would survive better in Southeast Asia, although the python is probably more adaptable, as the anaconda is more of a water specialist. I would guess that if both snakes survived in the habitat, that the python would feed more on land, while the anaconda fed more in the water, although both could feed in the water if they preyed on different animals. I cannot determine whether a reticulated python would attack a green anaconda or vice versa, but I would guess that it would, if it were sufficiently hungry. It seems that large snakes can underestimate the size of prey and, as stated above, there have been cases of snakes swalowing other snakes, as well as any food they were eating. It would be difficult to determine the winner, as this would partly depend on size and relative aggression. I would guess that if the aggressor were larger than the feeding snake, the aggressor would win the encounter. It also seems that the anaconda is more aggressive than the reeticulated python, so it would be more likely to win in fights between snakes of equal size. Please note that a snake would probably avoid fighting with a larger, more aggressive snake unless its life was in danger.     

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_python mentions competition between alligators and introduced Burmese pythons in the Everglades. As an aside, a small anaconda was caught in a shopping centre near London a few days ago, but I don't think it would have been able to stay alive for long.

I hope this helps.

All the best

Jonathan