COME and meet the longest animal at the Lake District Wildlife Park.

Urma, the Burmese Python was taken out of her enclosure for a hands-on check last week.

The task isn't easy for her keepers at the Bassenthwaite park and involves more than one person to lift her into the carrying bin for transportation.

Once out of her enclosure they were able to give her a routine once over.

Urma was measured using a length of rope laid out alongside her body, a method which minimises stress to her - the rope is marked and measured afterwards.

Currently she's is a whooping 3.75 metres or more than 12ft long.

It's thought that Burmese Pythons can grow to be a width similar to a telegraph pole and up to 23ft long.

She was also weighed and came in at a healthy 30kg, about the same weight as a small child.

Snakes in the wild are at risk from the snake-skin trade, the pet trade and habitat destruction. Their skin has been used in the fashion industry.

Sadly, a lot of pythons are killed illegally for the snake-skin trade and by inhumane methods.

The best thing to combat the trade is to not buy anything made from snake-skin.

Burmese Pythons do not make good pets simply due to their size.

The Keepers had to move her in 2018 because she outgrew her enclosure.

Burmese Pythons are found in the jungles and marsh areas of South East Asia.

They are excellent at swimming and can stay underwater without taking a breath for up to 30 minutes.

Urma can often we seen lying in submerged in her bath tub of water, although she usually leaves her head above water, to keep an eye on things.