JAKARTA (JP): In terms of survival, Boelen's python has the odds stacked against it.

For one, its gorgeous coloring makes it a favorite of snake and reptile collectors the world over. Second, it fares poorly in captivity, outside the cool climes of its natural Irian Jaya habitat.

And, perhaps most significantly, it is not poisonous, leaving it easy prey for people intent on catching it for the reptile trade.

With the local name sanca bulan and genus morelia boeleni, it is a shy, sometimes aggressive python found only in Jayawijaya and part of the Puncak Jaya area in the province.

K.W. J. Boelen M first recorded the holotype of the python on December 25, 1952, in Dimija near Wissel Lake, Paniai district, about 1,750m above sea level. Little research has been done on it in the wild, although it is known to lay up to 14 eggs.

The snake is easy to identify because of its striking colors. It is pitch black on its upper part, lined with a bluish purple hue. On its underside, it has irregular markings in yellow or white. A line stretches along its underside.

The snake's head has broad bars in white on the scales of the upper part of the mouth. The chin and the throat have black spots on a white surface. The lower part of the body is white or yellowish in front, getting darker in the middle part of the body and in the back.

A wide-bodied python, its head is broad but narrows toward the neck. Its eyes are large, characterized by vertical pupils, and it measures from about 1.80 m to more than 2.40 m in length.

Due to its rarity and unique coloring, the python now commands fantastic prices. It can fetch up to Rp 6 million on the black market in Jakarta, but the real killings are to be made with foreign buyers. Locals formerly hunted the snake, particularly large ones, for food, but now they recognize its value in the reptile trade, which continues under a "quota" system.

A quick scan of Internet sites found various prices, from US$20,000 for a pair offered by a dealer in the United States, to $3,100 for "babies", and a low of $650 for a young male. On the latter site, a green tree python (morelia viridis), also from Irian Jaya and one of the most sought-after snakes in the world, carried a price of $150.

A Jakarta vendor, who advertises his animals on a webpage, felt fortunate to receive six of the snakes last month, even as the population declines.

A researcher from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Irian Jaya, Johannes Arthur Maturbongs, said the python is rarely found in its original habitat today. When WWF conducted a survey of the python's population in Wamena, Jayawijaya district, in mid-2000, it found only one specimen.

"That was found only after we went down extremely steep, mossy mountain slopes," said Maturbongs.

It is believed human predation and deforestation are pushing the snake into the highest mountain forests, above its normal range of 1,000 meters to 2,000 meters above sea level. It is known to prefer humid, dark areas.

"As python hunting has intensified, the snake tends to hide at the sight of people. It is very sensitive to vibration," Maturbongs said.

Forests have been cut down to plant crops by the locals, who practice the traditional rotational method of farming. They will use a field for a maximum of two years, and then leave it for four years; in the meantime, they open up new fields by cutting down more forest.

"It is regrettable that the locals do not set limits in clearing a forest area and have turned forest areas on steep mountain slopes into their fields," said Maturbongs.

Captivity

The animal, which is active at night, does not do well when it is kept in captivity in hotter climates.

"Basically, it is very hard to raise a sanca bulan in a dry climate," said one vendor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "As it is used to a cold area, it seems to lose its appetite when it is taken to a hot region. The skin will become darker.

"As the snake will initially refuse food, the collector will overfeed it," he said, adding that this would eventually kill the animal.

A UK website providing advice to prospective snake owners, www.nafcon.dircon.co.uk/pythons.html, notes the difficulty of keeping the python.

Calling the young snakes "skittish", the site gave the animal the highest "difficulty level" of 3. "Even if you have the money, you should avoid this python ..." the website warned.

It is a pity that there are as yet no signs the government will provide total protection for the python.

It is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which Indonesia ratified in 1978, but trading is allowed.

Despite opposition from reptile traders, who say there is no data to support warnings about the snake's plight, the quota for 2000 and 2001 is 125, down from 200 in 1999 and 1998. The Natural Resource Conservation Center (BKSDA) of Irian Jaya I Jayapura, which is part of the forestry ministry, has recommended several times that the python be included on the list of protected animals by recategorizing its status to Appendix 1.

But the quota system counts for little when illegal hunting of the animal continues.

Conservationists are urging the government to act now, or else the python, coveted by many for its beauty but about which so little is known, will disappear forever from the Irian Jaya highlands.