A 20-foot Burmese Python killed a student zookeeper in Caracas on the weekend and was caught trying to swallow its dead human prey when horrified coworkers arrived, Venezuela's El Universal newspaper reported.
According to the daily, Arrieta had been working the nightshift alone on Saturday, looking after the reptile section of the zoo.
The university biology student had broken the park's rules by entering the cage holding the snake, which had been donated two months ago and was not on public display, according to the zoo's management.
A snake bite on his arm indicated the python had attacked Arrieta before wrapping itself around him and crushing him to death.
"The young man underestimated the animal's instinct," said the director general of the Parque del Este zoo, Javier Hernandez.
It is the main zoo in Caracas and was built on an old coffee plantation. This zoo includes South American animals such as birds, reptiles, imported felines and elephants.
It is rare for constrictor snakes to kill humans, but it has happened on rare occasions.
Less than a dozen deaths by constrictor have been recorded in North America in the past 20 years.
A man who got bitten by a rattlesnake while trying to take a selfie with it now faces a medical bill of almost £100,000.
Todd Fassler's entire arm went purple after he yanked the deadly animal from a bush and as he was composing the perfect shot it unsurprisingly bit him.
10 News To dd Fassler Horrific Injury: Todd Fassler was attacked by a rattlesnake as he tried to pose for a selfie
"My whole body was shaking and gyrating," he said. "He literally paralysed my whole body."
"My tongue was like out of my mouth, my eyes were off to the side."
Remember the Rattlesnake bite story I did Monday? Guy just sent me this pic of his bill. Uhhhhhhh.....
The man from San Diego in California, US, had to empty two hospitals of their anti-venom supply and have the horrific wound repaired, reported ABC's 10 News.
Ironically Fassler had a pet rattlesnake for a year but after the attack by a reptile relation on July 4 he has released it into the wild.
Getty Western Diamondback Rattlesnake Potentially Deadline: The rattlesnake could have killed Todd, who used up two hospitals' worth of anti-venom to survive
However, when his treatment finished he was slapped with a bill of
His insurance company is in negotiations with the hospital and it is as yet unknown if he will have to contribute.
The python snake is identified in a number of different ways. It has a series of complex patterns on its skin, often taking the form of irregular diamonds in a number of different colors. The outline of the diamonds on a python snake are usually darker in color, mainly black, whereas the interior of the diamond shape is much lighter in color. Albino pythons are mainly white, with perhaps a yellowish outline of the diamond shapes.
