Authorities on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island say a 63-year-old farmer who disappeared on 4 July was found dead the next day inside an eight-metre (26-foot) reticulated python. The snake was located near the man’s motorcycle in Majapahit village, South Buton district, its abdomen visibly distended and the animal in distress. Villagers killed the python and cut it open, recovering the victim’s body intact, according to La Ode Risal of the local disaster-management agency. Reticulated pythons exceeding six metres are native to parts of Southeast Asia, but attacks on humans are rare. Sulawesi has recorded only a few comparable cases, the most recent in 2017, underscoring the unusual nature of last week’s fatal encounter. Local officials have urged residents to avoid working alone in forested areas during the rainy season, when snakes are more likely to venture near farms and settlements.