Farewell to Bubba: Oregon Zoo Euthanizes Burmese Python

He was 25-years-old, 15-feet-long, and weighed about 110 pounds. HIs name was Bubba. He was a Burmese Python and, after a long battle with cancer, was euthanized by the Oregon Zoo.

"Burmese pythons generally reach their adult size by the time they’re 5 years old, but they keep slowly growing for their entire lives," said Oregon Zoo deputy director Sheri Horiszny.

"They can grow to be more than 20 feet long and weigh up to 200 pounds — that’s a lot of snake. Bubba wasn’t quite that big, but he was still quite impressive."

Burmese Pythons generally live between 20 and 25 years.

Bubba first became a celebrity in 1997 when, at a mere 10-feet-long and 50 pounds, he was adopted by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry from a pet owner who could no longer care for him.

The museum introduced him into their Life Sciences Lab, where he joined several smaller reptiles and amphibians.

The problem is that Bubba kept growing.

By 2006, he was 14 feet long and nearly 100 pounds. And too big for OMSI. So, they reached out to the zoo, which agreed to take him. He koined the zoo's Fragile Forests exhibit. And kept growing.

Three years ago, wanting to provide Bubba as comfortable a home as possible, they moved hum into the Predators of the Serengeti exhibit - even though Burmese Pythons don't live in Africa.

Bubba was an ambassador for his species, Horiszny said, and his story spoke to the perils of exotic pet ownership.

"Many ‘exotic’ animals have complex care needs that can only be met by people with specialized training at licensed and properly equipped facilities, such as AZA-accredited zoos," Horiszny said.

“Bubba was a much loved snake in our community, and he’ll be sorely missed. We hope his story helps people make more responsible pet ownership decisions."

The Burmese python, one of the largest snakes in the world, is considered vulnerable in its natural Southeast Asia range due to habitat loss, hunting for leather, and capture for sale as pets.

The pet trade has also led to problems here in the United States: People have kept the pythons as pets until they grew too big to handle, then released them into the wild, where they threaten local ecosystems.

In Florida, these hyper-carnivores are considered invasive, competing with native wildlife and eating virtually anything they encounter — even alligators. They pose a significant threat to endangered species such as the Key Largo woodrat.

Photo by Michael Durham courtesy The Oregon Zoo