A man was surfing in Australiawith a snake python surrounded by the neck, recorded it and the video went viral. But the fact did not go unpunished: the Australian authorities have fined him 2,322 Australian dollars, about 1,400 euros.

The Department of Environment and Science of the state of Queensland (northeast) has indicated in a statement that the man, identified in local media as Higor Fiuza, has been fined for violate the conditions of your permit to possess a snake.

In the video he shared earlier this month on social media, Fiuza appears with a surfboard while the snake, a Three-year-old “Morelia bredli” named Shivahangs coiled from his neck on a beach on the Gold Coast, in Queensland.

However, the permit stipulates that these types of pets cannot be taken from their usual place unless it is to take them to the veterinarian, a buyer or an authorized exhibition. “The man caught our attention when we saw in the local media that he was taking his python surfing,” as he indicated. Jonathan McDonald, official at the Department of Environment and Science.

“Taking an animal into a public place or exhibiting it requires a special permit,” McDonald said, adding that taking these animals out of their usual places can cause them stress and cause them to behave in “unpredictable” ways.

The expert stated that “Snakes are obviously cold-blooded animals and, although they can swim, reptiles normally avoid waterIn his opinion, “the python would find the water extremely cold, and the only snakes that should be in the ocean are sea snakes.”

When the video of the surfing snake went viral, Fiuza explained to state broadcaster ABC that he had taken Shiva out surfing at least ten times on Australia’s northeast coast. “She always took her to the beach and she loved being in the water swimming, so one day I decided to take her surfing and she loved it,” said the Australian, who will now have to pay a fine for it.