Hong Kong snake catcher wrestles with giant python that swallowed villager's cat

A British man was filmed capturing a large snake that was believed to have swallowed a cat.

The incident occurred when local man Don Holliday noticed a snake with a large lump in its stomach in the village of Sai Kung, just outside Hong Kong.

"I was struck the moment I saw it," Holliday said to South China Morning Post. "It was absolutely monstrous."

"Obviously it had had a recent meal. We suspect it was a cat as one neighbour's pet was missing. I started to worry about my cat too."

Police were called to the scene and contacted the area's designated snake catcher Dan Willet to help with the situation. In the video, Willet is seen wrestling with the snake for roughly 90 seconds as he attempts to subdue it and put it into a white bag.

A police spokesperson confirmed that the snake had been captured successfully at around 11am on Tuesday (October 31). It was then taken to Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in the New Territories where it was looked after by staff.

Willet, a rugby playing expat from the UK, is attached to Sai Kung police as the department's resident snake catcher. The 50-year-old has been living in Hong Kong with his wife and two teenage children for the past 17 years. He claims to have been capturing snakes for the past 30 years.

In 2017 he lost a finger after he attempted to apprehend a Chinese cobra, but this has not deterred his enthusiasm for snake catching.

Snake catching has become an important part of police work in Hong Kong as the city expands into rural areas. Each of the city's 23 police districts have at least three snake catchers who are paid 800 HKD (£80) each time they respond to a call out.