A farmer in Kampong Chhnang found a python and its 39 babies on Monday and took them all home as pets. Chan Tha, 40, and his son found the three-metre, 20-kilogram python and its babies near their house while looking for crickets.

Phsar Chhang district chief Houn Huy Eng said many villagers had come to see the python as they believe it belongs to the spirits of an ancestor that will bless the village.

Local forestry administration chief Sun Kosal said, however, that the pythons should be brought to a conservation centre to be taken care of by an expert. “It is a rare animal in Cambodia. It must be taken care of in a conservation area,” he said.