~ Pilbara Olive Pythons ~
Photo courtesy of Michael Tutt
These beautiful snakes live only in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They are very shy and rarely seen. POPs (Pilbara Olive Pythons) can grow up to 6.5 metres long but most adults only grow to around 3 or 4 metres. In the sun their olive green scales can reflect the sunlight at different angles, causing a "rainbow" sheen. This phenomenon is known as iridescence.
Most of the time they spend their days squeezed into tight rock crevices to avoid the hot Pilbara sun and only come out after dark to hunt. Unfortunately this is when many of them perish, run over by cars.
We knew very little about these snakes until a project was started in 1996. Scientists captured and placed small radio transmitters inside the bodies of the pythons. The reptiles' temperature and movements were tracked, providing us with the first really accurate information about their behaviour.
The Burrup Project commenced in 2000 and is being run by the Nickol Bay Naturalists Club, with assistance from CALM. In 2001, the children from Dampier Primary School participated in a Naming Competition for 4 of the 5 pythons. To assist in their understanding of these shy serpents, they read fact sheets supplied by Senior Research Scientist David Pearson, and studied the web pages of local CALM Volunteer, Michael Tutt.
If you'd like to read more about the Project, check out these pages:
LINKS
Pilbara Olive Python information and photos (courtesy Michael Tutt):
http://www.starwon.com.au/~mlt/pythons/pythons.html
Olive Python information:
http://www.vpi.com/5VPIBreeders/OlivePython/OlivePython.htm