A BURMESE PYTHON that was found abandoned in the Wicklow Mountains in May has died.

The ISPCA had issued an appeal for information about the snake – dubbed Sammi – to try to trace its owners after it was discovered by a local farmer.

The five-foot-long snake was found to be underweight, dehydrated and injured.

She’d been put in the care of a reptile specialist but has since died.

ISPCA chief inspector Conor Dowling said: “In addition to the potentially illegal release of a non-native species, there are numerous possible offences under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.

This snake did not make its own way up the Wicklow Mountains and we believe that it was abandoned and left in an environment not suited to an animal of this type. We suspect that it had been abandoned some days prior to her discovery but we also have reason to be concerned about the care that it was receiving prior to its release.

Dowling added that animals such as Sammi require specialised environments to live in and can suffer “slow, lingering deaths in normal Irish weather conditions”.

The ISPCA said it wants to see stronger regulation around the breeding, keeping and selling of exotic animals as pets.