A 15-foot python named after Hollywood star Jodie Foster has made a full recovery after becoming what is believed to be the first snake in the world to receive a pioneering cancer treatment usually used in humans.
The 50kg reticulated python who came to Chester Zoo 20 years ago, underwent electrochemotherapy after a cancerous tumour returned following surgery and began invading her jawbone.
Working alongside cancer specialists at the University of Liverpool, the zoo’s veterinary team adapted the treatment for use in a snake for the first time. Months after the procedure, Jodie is cancer-free, eating normally and back to her usual "bright and feisty" self.
With no operating table built for a python of Jodie's size, keepers and vets improvised. She was anaesthetised in her own habitat before being carefully carried to the zoo’s veterinary centre.
