Regent’s Park: Snake spotted outside London Zoo by canal frightens walkers

A snake spotted in central London frightened walkers, who feared it had "escaped from the zoo".

Chris Kutler, 59, worried the Aesculapian snake - also known as a rat snake - was missing from London Zoo after he spotted it nearby.

The walker was out for a stroll on the Regent’s Canal towpath on Thursday (July 20) when his dog stopped to look at something in the grass. He was shocked to discover a dark grey snake – which the Chris said was "too big" to be an adder or grass snake.

After calling a friend to help identify it, he was relieved to discover that despite not being native to the UK the animals are not venomous or aggressive.

Chris said the snake he saw was longer than a metre but they can grow up to two metres and are one of the largest snakes found on the continent.

Chris, from London, said: “The dog stopped to look at something and I thought ‘what’s that?’ - and it was a snake. I thought it might be an adder or grass snake, but it was much too big for that.

“I realised I was next to the zoo and thought maybe it's escaped from the zoo.

“I was quite mesmerised by it but didn’t know if it was poisonous. So I called a friend who knows about this kind of thing who said he thought it was a rat snake.”

Several other walkers have spotted the exotic snake on the banks of the canal and feared it had come from the zoo.

One walker tweeted the zoo: "Any chance of you have missing a snake? There is one on the side of the canal, north walkway, and people are stopping to have a look."

London Zoo said the rat snake did not escape from the zoo and lives on the banks of the canal.

There are three colonies of the snake located in the UK – two in Wales and one on the banks of Regent’s Canal.

An RSPCA spokesperson said: “There is a small population of non-native Aesculapian snakes in the Regent’s Park area of London. They are not venomous and if anyone sees them, it’s best to leave them alone and not try to pick them up.”

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