A passionate community has grown up around the green tree python, which drapes itself over a branch in an unusual posture of concentric loops that perfectly displays its hues and patterns.

With prices commonly in the $1,000-$5,000 range - and exceptional specimens going for more than $10,000 - these snakes might sound like a gold mine. But those figures reflect the challenges of keeping the temperamental reptiles, and the gamble inherent in

Claudia Hдmmerling, a Green party politician, backed by several animal rights organisations, alleges that the zoo s director, Bernhard Blaszkiewitz, sold the animals to traders.

Berlin zoo is under pressure to explain the fate of hundreds of its animals which allegedly have disappeared without trace amid accusations that they have been slaughtered and in some cases turned into potency-boosting drugs.