Python strangles student zookeeper - CARACAS, Venezuela

You don't handle a 10ft python by yourself on the night shift, very unfortunate.

Python strangles student zookeeper

Story Highlights
Student strangled to death by captive 3-meter python at park in Venezuela

Park manager says 29-year-old violated park rules by takin snake out

He said the intern was strangled to death by python early Saturday

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- A university student has been strangled to death by a captive 3-meter python at a park in Venezuela where the young man was working as an intern.

Park manager Javier Hernandez says the 29-year-old violated park rules when he took the snake out and held it on his own while working the night shift.

Hernandez said Monday that the biology student's body was found with a bite from the Asian python on his left wrist.

He said the intern, Erick Arrieta, was strangled to death by the python early Saturday and that the snake was found elsewhere in a hallway at the Caracas park's terrarium.

He said the young man didn't have permission to take the snake out and that it's the first time such an incident has occurred at the park.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/am...n.strangle.ap/

Student at Pearly gates: "Why hello there, where is St. Peter?"
Attendant: "Sorry, I'm just the understudy." Hands student a book.
Student glances at title: "Heaven for Dummies?"
Attendant: "Yeah. Before you go someone needs to give you something. Look to your left and have a nice stay."
Student looks left and sees Charles Darwin standing there with a certificate in his hand with a nice gold ribbon on it...

Python kills Venezuelan zookeeper

Burmese Pythons are among the world's biggest snakes
A three-metre (10-foot) python has killed a student zookeeper who let the snake out of its enclosure in Venezuela while working a night shift at the zoo.

Horrified employees at the Caracas zoo discovered the Burmese Python as it tried to swallow its victim's head, local media reported.

The co-workers beat the snake to force it to release Erick Arrieta's body.

Marks on the biology student's left wrist suggested the snake had bitten him before crushing him to death.

Arrieta, who was 29, had been supervising the reptile section alone on Saturday night when he broke zoo rules by opening the snake's cage, Venezuela's El Universal newspaper quoted zoo officials as saying.

The snake was donated to the Caracas zoo two months ago and was not on public display, said the zoo's management in a statement.

"The young man underestimated the animal's instinct," said Javier Hernandez, director general of the Parque del Este zoo.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7582702.stm