A video from Indonesia showing children playing on a giant python has left social media users shocked and divided.
Instead of running away from the huge snake, the children can be seen treating it like a playground slide. They take turns climbing onto its body and sliding down, laughing as they go. Some sit on top of the snake, while others run around it.
What has drawn the most attention, though, is the reaction of the adults. Several grown-ups can be seen standing nearby, calm and unbothered. None of them appear to step in.
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What Kind Of Snake Is It?
Going by the footage, the snake appears to be a reticulated python, about 20 feet, or 6 metres, long. It can be seen stretched across a dirt slope.
Reticulated pythons are among the largest snakes in the world. They are not venomous, but they kill their prey by constriction, using enormous muscle strength to crush it before swallowing it whole. Large ones are capable of swallowing an adult human.
How The Video Spread
The clip was shared on X by news outlet NEXTA on November 9. “The scariest part of this video isn't even the giant snake — it's that nobody around seems remotely concerned,” the post said.
The video has since reached nearly 1.6 lakh users.
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What Users Said
Reactions online ranged from alarm to amusement.
Some users suggested the snake was likely used to people. One said such pythons are fairly common in Indonesia, and that large ones are sometimes kept or captured, often becoming calm with regular human contact or after being fed. The python in the video, they pointed out, showed no signs of aggression.
Another user claimed the snake was “obviously a prized family pet”, but added that wild ones can be very aggressive and strike quickly if they feel threatened.
Others took a lighter view. “The children are finally playing outside instead of sitting on the internet indoors,” one user joked.
It is not yet clear where in Indonesia the video was filmed, or whether the snake was a pet or a wild animal.
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