Aida Willemse, one of the coaches that accompanied hockey players on the tour, said that they went for a game drive the Sunday morning.

Game rangers spotted the massive snake whilst they were driving around in the reserve. A snake handler was called in after realising that all is not well with the giant reptile.

The snake was transported back to camp in a separate vehicle where rangers threw it in the swimming pool to try and establish what type of injury it had.

“A piece of its body, near the tail part, kept on popping up on the water surface and did not work together with the rest of the snakes body. A ranger told me that he suspects the snake has a broken rib or two,” said Mrs Willemse.

The snake was taken to a reptile park.

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