A famous anaconda called Ana Julia measuring over 20 feet long who featured in documentaries and had been a regional symbol for years has been found dead in the rainforest and experts have now said she died of natural causes.
The first piece of footage shows Dutch biologist Professor Freek J. Vonk swimming alongside the huge snake last summer and getting very close to its head but the snake does not appear to be disturbed by the human.
Vonk told Newsflash that the footage of him swimming with the huge snake, dubbed Ana Julia about a decade ago, was filmed on 7th July in a river in Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The second video, filmed by the biologist, shows the huge snake lying dead on the forest floor and already in a state of decomposition, according to local media reports.
The Civil Police of Bonito opened an investigation into the anaconda’s cause of death.
Ana Julia had become famous after appearing in a number of documentaries including by the BBC.
The snake’s corpse was found on the banks of the Formoso River, near Bonito, on Sunday, 24th March.
Vonk told Newsflash: “I have seen and filmed many different anacondas in my life, also huge ones, but this particular specimen was an absolute titan. I have never ever seen a snake this big in my life, although I knew they had to be out there.
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“We encountered this snake while filming for my Dutch family TV show ‘Freeks Wild World’, a show about nature and wildlife for children. I’m currently in the process of filming season 14 and have made over 250 episodes in the last 13 years.
“So we were filming this huge green anaconda female basking on the river bank, when she suddenly but gently decided to glide into the water.
“I had my mask and small scuba tank with me, so I instantly decided to go after her. What happened then, was almost unbelievable. I was able to get so close that I could just stick out my arm and I could have touched her head. Of course, I didn’t. I was completely into the moment.
“And the great thing was, she did not look too bothered by my presence at all, the occasional tongue flick to pick up scent of what was going on was all that gave away this giant snake even noticed me at all.
“She just went on doing her thing, while I swam right beside her.
“My cameraman and I were with this amazing creature on the bottom of the river for a good hour, while she was scouting the river and cruising the riverbed.
“I have seen some amazing things during my career as a biologist and TV presenter, I travelled to over 100 countries and did many hundreds of expeditions, but this experience instantly went right on top of the list of my most ‘jaw-dropping moments’. Just talking about the experience sometimes gives me goosebumps again.
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“I am very sad she passed away. She turned out to be almost seven metres [22 feet] long.”
It was at first thought that the snake had been shot, but experts have now said that Ana Julia died of natural causes.
Two days after the footage of the snake’s corpse was filmed, experts arrived on the scene to examine its body and conduct a forensic analysis.
The director of the Scientific Police of Mato Grosso do South, Emerson Lopes dos Reis, said: “Our main objective was to determine whether or not the snake was killed violently by a gunshot or even if it had some blunt injuries that had caused its death.”
But he added that the veterinary expert at the scene did not find any injuries on the animal.
The experts nonetheless decided to take the snake’s corpse with them to carry out further tests and X-rays.
Expert Maristela Melo de Oliveira said: “We carried out radiographic examinations, we did not find any fracture in the head region, which was initially suspected of having been injured and we ruled out the hypothesis of a violent death…
“Since the animal did not die a violent death, it therefore remained a death as a result of a pathology or some issue specific to the animal where it lives, without human interference in the death of that animal.”
The expert said that they had officially measured the snake and found that it was 6.35 metres (20.8 feet) long.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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