Python dies after eating giant porcupine in South Africa

An African rock python died in unusual circumstances after swallowing a giant 13.8 kilogram porcupine at a private game park in South Africa, the manager said Friday.

The 3.9 metres snake should have been able to cope with the porcupine no matter how prickly the quills, Lake Eland Game Reserve's Jennifer Fuller told AFP.

A mountain biker found the bloated body of the snake by a cycle track at the South African Lake Eland Game Reserve, near Port Shepstone, about 75 miles south of Durban.

After the snake was reported to gamekeepers, they performed an autopsy on the animal to remove the porcupine from its innards.

After cutting the porcupine out, they found the insides of the snake had been pierced by dozens of the animal’s sharps quills. The exact reasons for the snake’s death are not clear, Jennifer Fuller said.

‘‘It is apparent that several porcupine quills were lodged inside the digestive tract,” she said.

Many snakes rely on thermal and chemical sensory mechanisms to ambush prey, meaning that some do not see threatening defence mechanisms until they have already swallowed their victims.

Rock pythons are Africa's largest snakes and known to swallow and digest much larger animals, such as antelope.