23-Foot Wild Python Is Officially the World's Longest. But Experts Don't Think That's Her Final Size

Deep inside a jungle in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, someone recently got her name added to the Guinness World Records (GWR). Officials tried to hand her the certificate, but it was a struggle. It was Diaz Nugraha, wildlife guide and snake handler, who had first spotted her in December 2025. Excited to share his discovery, he reached out to his photographer friend, Radu Frentiu. Together, they travelled to the jungle to see her up close. Unrolling rolls of surveyor tape, they documented her curves and the diamond-like patterns embossed in her rubbery, stringy-textured flesh. Frentiu had seen dozens of pythons in his hometown, Bali, but this one left him flabbergasted. Meet The Baroness, or Idu Baron, a 23-foot-8-inch python, who recently broke the record for being the world’s longest wild snake.

The wild reticulated python is as long as the length of two compact cars placed side by side or the height of a two-story house. If laid across a standard FIFA goal, the python would likely occupy the entire field from post to post, they estimated. "I had never seen a snake this big," Frentiu told National Geographic (NG).

When Nugraha first told Frentiu about the prodigious serpent as well as rumors from locals, they immediately arranged a trip to Sulawesi to photograph the supersized snake, too eager to see it with their own eyes. With photographic evidence and independent witnesses from GWR, they conducted the formal weighing and measuring of the snake on January 18. Length was measured from the head to the tail tip. But they estimated that the python could be at least 10% longer if she were sedated.

Under sedation, the snake’s muscles fully relax, which means her true length is likely around 26 feet. Weight measurements revealed that the reptile hadn’t had a good meal recently. She weighed just 213 pounds on an empty stomach. Even a meal of a cow, a pig, or a deer can significantly increase a snake’s weight, which implies that The Baroness could weigh even more the next time someone visits her.

But she’s not slithering in the jungle anymore. Ever since they found her, she’s been under the care of a local conservationist named Budi Purwanto. Purwanto transferred her to a makeshift shelter in Maros County. Releasing her in the wild at this point would be too risky, he believes. These days, the human-snake conflicts are running hot. As the habitats of snakes are slowly declining in quality, they are falling short of prey items like pigs and cows. Human activities like poaching, illegal pet trade, and logging only amplify their suffering.

If the python had crawled into a human settlement or a nearby village, she would almost certainly be killed by the humans who see these snakes as threats. That’s why Purwanto had to step forward to protect her. "So it's the power of such a snake that silently impresses you the most, along with its ability to expand when swallowing enormous prey, right up to the size of a cow, which is virtually impossible for most people to comprehend," Frentiu said.

Defending The Baroness, he said that these snakes are not vermin or threats to be hated. They are, in fact, symbols of a healthy island and a happy ecosystem. He asserted that they need stricter safeguarding and protection, plus a ban should be imposed on killing these snakes. Meanwhile, GWR officers were curious to know whether they could find snakes even longer than her. Quite possible, Nugraha told them. He anticipates that there are bigger snakes out there, whose lengths might reach up to 29 feet.