"Reticulated pythons have the life history of a garter snake," he said.

The reticulated pythons, which bred in 2007, and anacondas are particularly large specimens.

This subspecies represents a sister lineage to all other populations of reticulated pythons tested.

While clearly the heaviest snake in the world, anacondas get competition from reticulated pythons when it comes to length.

A few ambitious hunters work in groups, settings nets, traps and baited hooks for the larger reticulated pythons.

Most coastal areas of this Park are surrounded by mangrove forest, where monitor lizards, golden ring snakes and reticulated pythons can be found.

Reticulated pythons are the anacondas of Asia, having been reported at lengths of more than 30 feet, although 10- to 17-foot snakes are typical.

Specific breeds include rattlesnakes, iguanas, reticulated pythons, tarantulas, Burmese pythons and box turtles.

Herpetologists are particularly worried about reticulated pythons, which do not seem to thrive in plantations, and whose skins bear the netlike pattern most desired by designers.

Although they are sympatric with several potential predators, including leopards, clouded leopards and reticulated pythons, predation on adults is reportedly quite rare.

Rabbits are a common food item of large snakes, such as Burmese pythons and reticulated pythons, both in the wild and in captivity.

Pythons can range from 3 feet long in species like ball pythons to 29 feet in species like reticulated pythons.

Cliff swallows, cave swallows, cave swiftlets, reticulated pythons, rats, bats, bears, raccoons and humans are considered to be trogloxenes.

Dr. Shine, the Australian herpetologist and one of the few scientists who have studied the harvest of reticulated pythons, said he has been surprised by the species's resilience.

Reticulated pythons - the snake is named for the series of lines that intertwine on its skin, creating what looks like a net - are particularly desirable for boots, belts and purses.

"Reticulated pythons are giant snakes, remarkable creatures, but they are not adequately protected, and their trade is barely regulated," said Peter Brazaitis, a herpetologist and the former curator of animals at the Central Park Wildlife Center.

But escape to Ko Chang's mountainous interior and you'll find a lost world of rugged waterfalls and impenetrable jungle filled with a Noah's ark of wildlife, including stump-tailed macaques, small Indian civets and reticulated pythons.

Some 150,000 whole skins of reticulated pythons alone, which are caught in the wild in Asia, have been brought legally into the United States for each of the last 10 years, said Craig Hoover at Traffic, the trade monitoring arm of the World Wildlife Foundation.

A 1990 report done for the convention's secretariat noted that for reticulated pythons, "there is reasonable evidence for a significant decline in Bangladesh, and the species is reported to be depleted locally over much of the remainder of the range, including Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines."