Morelia spilota spilota
10 Diamond Python at suppressed
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| Morelia spilota spilota | wombey | 5 Jan 2026 | ||
| Morelia spilota spilota | AdamHenderson | 5 Jan 2026 |
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Significant sighting
MichaelMulvaney noted:
13 Jan 2026
First likely record of a surviving (non-escapee) Diamond Python in the ACT for 50 years or more
7 comments
12 Jan 2026
Looks like "natural coloration" which may support it being a wild individual- if so it is a highly significant record @WillO @DonFletcher what do you think?
12 Jan 2026
Hi Michael and everyone. Many many thnks for alerting me. The location of this sighting is well away from roads open to the public and about 10 km from the nearest suburb.
I have waited years to see this. Matt Higgins has read the deSalis Diaries from Cuppacumbalong and told me that they recorded killing a lot of this species. (Some were the coastal Diamond Python colour form like this one and others were the Murray or Inland Carpet Python colour form). I always wondered if there were pythons surviving from that era (they are astonishigly cryptic animals) and hoped that at some stage wild ones would begin showing up. Interestingly this sighting was only about 5 kilometres from Cuppacumbalong HS. @wombey
I have waited years to see this. Matt Higgins has read the deSalis Diaries from Cuppacumbalong and told me that they recorded killing a lot of this species. (Some were the coastal Diamond Python colour form like this one and others were the Murray or Inland Carpet Python colour form). I always wondered if there were pythons surviving from that era (they are astonishigly cryptic animals) and hoped that at some stage wild ones would begin showing up. Interestingly this sighting was only about 5 kilometres from Cuppacumbalong HS. @wombey
12 Jan 2026
What can one say, finally one has turned up. one way to prove it was born and bred in the area rather than some escapee would be by stable isotope sampling. For that, samples would be required from the animal. Based on the Cuppacumbalong records it seems possible and most likely to be a local resident, a sentiment I am happy to support!
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- AdamHenderson Recorded by
Collections
- AdamHenderson NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Snakes Reptiles and Frogs Morelia spilota spilota Significant
Species information
- Morelia spilota spilota Scientific name
- Diamond Python Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 967.3m Recorded at altitude
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
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- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
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