Animal Diaries Archive

Wo Man! Wo Wo Womas!

30 November 2007

If you think we were excited to bring you news last issue of our Burmese python eggs, we are now over the moon this week! One of our rare South-Western Queensland or Brigalow Woma Pythons have laid what appears to be an extremely healthy clutch of eggs! You may notice that they are also particularly large eggs compared to the size of mum. Hatchlings are also larger than many other pythons with similar size parents to give them a better chance of survival in such a harsh environment. The Brigalow Womas are one of our managed breeding programs here at Australia Zoo so this kind of success always makes us extremely happy.

This particular form of Woma Python mainly inhabits the Brigalow Belt running through the south western and central part of Queensland. These little guys are in major trouble due to land clearing for agricultural use as well as back burning. The Irwin family has purchased many hectares of land throughout the Brigalow Belt in order to conserve this unique habitat. We hope to have enough success with these guys in captivity to be able to release them back into the wild on these conservation stations where we can make every effort to ensure the survival of this unique species. Australia Zoo is the only facility in the universe to have this form so this will be the highlight of our breeding season if we are able to report on hatchling womas in about sixty days!

Woma Pythons are highly variable in pattern and colour and do inhabit different areas throughout central NT, northern SA and WA. They prefer to live under ground in unused burrows and may eat small mammals, birds and other reptiles including other snakes! Fortunately for the rest of the species, it is only our Brigalow form that is in immediate threat. Hopefully this is the start of much more success with this species in the future.