WATCH | Python's venison breakfast interrupted on Zimbali golf course

An African rock python was spotted ready to devour its breakfast, a buck, on the seventh hole of the prestigious Zimbali Golf Course on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast on Sunday morning.

However, it was disturbed and slithered off.

“Often, when people come across a huge snake like that, it's quite an amazing experience for them, so they want to get closer, but it actually scares the snake off. In this case, the snake abandoned the meal and moved on,” Zimbali environmental manager Brendan Smith told TimesLIVE on Tuesday.

A video clip of the snake next to its prey under a tree has been doing the rounds on social media.

“We have a few fairly large pythons on the estate,” said Smith, adding that people's reactions when they saw snakes on the greens and in the estate varied.

“We have people on the estate who love the snakes and want to hold them and be involved, and then often we have others who are scared the snakes are going to come into their house. We are initiating educational campaigns with our residents and hoping they will alleviate any fear associated with snakes,” he said. 

Zimbali has embarked on a microchipping project, which recently led to a python being tagged while her 58 eggs are incubated at Crocworld Conservation Centre on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.