'They may have suffered a great deal': Animal carcass found dumped in woodland

The royal python (below) and monitor lizard were discovered by a passerby in a wooded area of Park Street Lane at the weekend.

Both animals, each around a metre in length, had clean incisions all the way along the undersides of their bodies and their internal organs were missing.

The royal python’s head and the monitor’s back legs were missing.

RSPCA inspector Rachel Smith said: “We don’t know for sure if the reptiles had already died before being cut open or indeed if the person who dumped them was the same person responsible for cutting them, but they may have suffered a great deal.

“Reptiles have specialist needs and it is both sad and disturbing that these have been dumped in the woods.

“The monitor lizard looks like an Indonesian species, though it is difficult to identify from the remains.

"These types of monitors are not very commonly kept as pets so we are hoping that someone will know someone in the area who has, until recently, owned such an animal.”