Al-Sheikhlyet al. (2023) discuss reports of Iraq’s Reticulated Python, Malayopython reticulatus. The following is edited content from the Jordan Journal of Natural History article.
Unverified reports of a “giant snake” surfaced in Iraq in the early 1980s. Local people reported a massive snake known as “Afa’ah” that was arboreal in the northern mountains and was feared by the inhabitants. In eastern and southern Iraq, people reported similar observations. However, because none of these reports were backed by reliable, observable evidence, researchers ignored them. Locals in central and southern Iraq have been reporting new observations of the Reticulated Python since 2003.
In Khirnabat Village, approximately 5 km north of Baqubah in Diyala Province, local people made the first sighting in a canal that branched from the Diyala River (one of the Tigris River tributaries) between July 26 and August 1, 2018. The Iraqi Green Climate Organization (IGCO) has received numerous reports from the residents about a fearsome-looking “giant snake” that was living in the heavily overgrown waterway. To investigate the claims made by the residents, a combined team from the Iraqi Ministry of Environment (IMoEn) and IGCO (see acknowledgments) was assembled. Through interviews with residents in the local populations, the researchers learned that three locals saw the snake several times per week in an area of about two square kilometers. The villagers reported an “anaconda-like giant snake” with confidence. This description alluded to the animal’s enormous body, large head, and olive-grey skin with yellow blotches.
The first story came from a driver who took a short rest on the canal’s western bank, where he thought he had seen a big truck tire, then realized it was a coiling, hissing “big snake” in the riparian thickets. The other two reports revealed that a 3–5-meter-long “giant snake” was seen moving from the canal banks towards the nearby wheat fields at midday. Digital photographs of anacondas and pythons were shown to the villagers. The morphological features described by the villagers referred to the photos of a python.
The researchers’ investigation lasted two days (1st–2nd of August 2018). No tangible evidence (tracks, fecal samples, shed skin, etc.) confirming the presence of a “giant snake” was obtained, and the mission was aborted.
The second sighting was in the Ad’jeel (Dejail) area, ca. 30 km northwest of the Khirnabat village in Salahadin Province, central Iraq. A “giant snake” was moving on the eastern bank of a shallow pool on the Ishaqi River. A local fisherman saw it on the 5th of September 2018; local authorities ignored this incident as no evidence was provided.
In July 2021, the appearance of a “giant snake” in Ad’jeel was reported again, and several local testimonies were widely spread on local social media. The Iraqi authorities considered the claims reliable and launched campaigns to find and kill the snake.
The Ad’jeel villagers still expressed and feared the psychological effects of an imagined “giant snake” swimming in the river two years later. But no reliable answers could be found, and the fate of that “giant snake” in this region remained mysterious. The third sighting occurred in the southern Iraqi region of the Central Marshes in September 2018. Iraq’s Protected Area, the Central Marshes, is a section of the Mesopotamian wetlands and is regarded as a place of worldwide significance (Al-Sheikhly and Al-Azawi 2019).
In addition to prey abundance, the landscape consists of open, shallow ponds bordered by dense reed beds and marshland vegetation, which are compatible with the Reticulated Python’s ecological requirements. The “giant snake” was frequently seen by local fishermen and the Marsh Arabs (native inhabitants of the marshes) within an area of ca. 4.5–5 km2 , extending from Al-Manthar (30°59’6.81”N 47° 2’55.97”E) and Abu-Subat Village (30°59’55.93”N 47° 1’17.20”E).
The locals’ observations confirmed that the snake was observed among reed beds and entering the densely vegetated watercourses. Moreover, the Marsh Arabs expressed concern, saying that the snake could prey on their livestock; therefore, they organized a retaliation campaign to kill it. Despite intensive in situ surveys conducted for three continuous days (20–23 September), no plausible evidence was obtained, and the presence of the “giant snake” in the Central Marshes remained a mystery. The presence of the large serpent in Iraq was eventually established in October 2018. Photographic evidence of an adult Reticulated Python (2.5–3 m long) swimming in the Basra Oil Harbor (Al-Baker Harbor), on the Arabian Gulf coast in far southern Iraq. The Iraqi marine personnel killed the snake and disposed of it in the water. Thus, no specimen was collected. The interviews suggested that the snake was carried by the tide from the Khawr Abdualla opening through Khawr al’Amaya, along the western bank of the Iraqi Faw Peninsula towards the harbor, in addition to the photo evidence provided by the marine troops. The python most likely traveled from central Iraq through the drainage system, across the Central Marshes to the Tigris-Euphrates confluence, and then moved through Shatt Al-Arab to the southern Arbian Gulf. Nevertheless, due to the cryptic behavior of the snake, this interpretation is hypothetical and requires further investigation.
Citation
Al-Sheikhly OF, Böhme W, Fazaa NA, Haba MK, Al-Asady RA, Abdulzahra HK, Al-Barazangi AN, Al-Haidari ML. 2023. The Occurrence of the Reticulated Python Malayopython reticulatus (Schneider, 1801)(Serpentes: Pythonidae) as evidence of Alien Species’ introduction into Iraq. Jordan Journal of Natural History,10(2):91-97.