With a pounding heart, Freek Vonk shares the sad news that the constrictor snake he discovered a few months ago in Brazil is now unfortunately no longer alive. Freek describes his feelings in a series of photos of the animal on Instagram.
Shot
“I heard that she was shot, but we don’t know exactly what happened yet,” says Freek. “I’m really sad and angry at the same time! It’s so sad and unfair. Who would do something so terrible to such a beautiful animal!? This is really heartbreaking and stupid!”
Giant of a snake
Freek says that the animal was almost 7 meters long. “That made her a huge giant of a snake. Not just in size, but also in character,” he adds. The biologist describes the deceased animal as ‘a tough animal, a real survivor, one that had been swimming around Bonito for decades’. “As far as we know, she was super healthy and full of life, and could have had many more babies in the years to come.”
‘She didn’t deserve this’
Freek found it special to spend time with the animal. “I was in complete shock when I saw how big she was! It was the largest snake I had ever seen with my own eyes. A colossus of an animal,” he reflects. “I swam next to her for at least an hour. And the intriguing thing was that she seemed completely unperturbed by my presence. The only thing that gave away that she had noticed me at all was the fact that she would occasionally stick her tongue out to pick up some scents to smell what was going on. Other than that she just did her own thing. This was truly a formidable snake, one of a kind, and she did NOT deserve this…”
Police investigation
Freek very much hopes that the people responsible for the animal’s death are punished. Police are now investigating the place where the animal was found. “I just feel sad when I see how people are destroying nature,” says Freek. “It’s really a shame…”
Northern green anaconda
In February, Freek and a group of other biologists discovered a new species of anaconda in the northern part of the Amazon region. This gigantic snake was given the name ‘northern green anaconda’. “Since there are not that many of these colossal giant snakes swimming around, the death of the beast is a huge blow to biodiversity (and this specific species in particular).”
More on Instagram
