A southern African python trapped in an electric fence at Holla Trails outside Ballito, was spotted and freed by 6 North Coast runners on Saturday.

The group of runners were out on their weekly training run when they noticed the snake – a female between 2.5 and 3 metres long – at around 6.30am, said runner Natasha Barnes.

“We weren’t initially meant to take that route, but decided on shortening the run slightly because one of our group felt unwell. We noticed the python and collectively decided we could not just leave it to die, so we suppressed our fear and stopped. It might have been a different story if its head was on our side of the fence!” she said.

The python got stuck while attempting to exit through the electrified boundary fence.

“About a third of its body made it through before becoming stuck. It obviously miscalculated the size of the hole. Because it was an electrified fence, the poor thing repeatedly got shocked and we could see the shock pulse and reverberate through its body every few seconds.”

The group called conservationist and snake expert Nick Evans, hoping for advice and to determine whether he could come and rescue the snake.

“I was actually nearby, already on a call at Zimbali when they got hold of me. Together we decided they needed to try and get the fence’s electrical current turned off so that they could have a chance of freeing it,” said Evans.

The runners immediately made calls and within 15 minutes, help arrived in the form of Sugar Rush Park employees Sabelo and Aidan who brought wire cutters with them.

“Once they had cut the electricity, they used the cutters to enlarge the hole so that the snake could make it through. Aidan fed it through until it was outside the boundary fence of Holla Trails,” said Barnes.

Although not endangered given its wide distribution area, the southern African python (recently renamed such from African rock python) is a protected species, Evans said.

“The laws around dealing with these pythons are very strict. Just to handle and relocate them, I have to renew a permit annually and report all of my findings to Ezemvelo Wildlife. This is unfortunately necessary  because they have been hunted for use in the muthi trade.

“The good news is that transgressors caught face bigger fines and jail time. We hope these measures and ongoing conservation efforts will help prevent these snakes from finding their way onto the endangered list,” said Evans.