Agra, Aug 20 (IANS): When a truck driver here saw a seven-foot long python crawling up the front wheel of his vehicle, all he could do in the dark was to scream for help.

He immediately informed the police who got in touch with the specialists at an animal rescue centre run by an NGO.

The reptile was later rescued by a team of local NGO Wildlife SOS in the Jeoni Mandi area along the Yamuna river. It was later released into its natural habitat.

In a bid to climb up the vehicle, the python got intricately trapped in the chassis panel frames of the truck.

Baiju Raj M.V, Director, conservation projects, Wildlife SOS, said, "The sheer size of the python made the rescue operation more challenging. Our team had to be very careful while removing the chassis as we wanted to avoid hurting the python during the extraction."

Indian rock pythons (Python Molurus) are very often mistaken to be dangerous because of their size and face extreme threat due to the prevalent misunderstanding and ignorance among the public.

Not many people are aware that pythons are non-venomous, and these reptiles often get killed when they venture into human surroundings. Wildlife SOS works towards changing this attitude and sensitising the public to the presence of urban wildlife.