With the latest capture, a total of five small and large pythons have been caught from different parts of the city and the district in the last seven days.

Unable to withstand sweltering heat, the pythons have been leaving their natural habitat at hilly areas looking for cooler shelter at city localities in Chittagong, experts said.

All the pythons captured were handed over to the Chittagong Zoo authorities.

Experts observed that since the pythons of this region cannot stand scorching heat, they usually move towards the urban areas when the mercury goes up beyond their tolerance level.

Zoologists in Chittagong said that the local pythons are of "Indian Python" (Python molurus) species, and they can bear temperature from 23 degree Celsius to a maximum of 32 degree Celsius.

According to the met office statistics, the average temperature in the port city for the last seven days was 33.31 degree Celsius.

Of the two pythons captured, one is caught at Fateyabad of Hathazari upazila yesterday morning by one Mohammad Azim. The python was 14-feet long and weighed around 80-kg.

Meanwhile, locals caught another 8-feet long python weighing some 15-kg from Noapara under Raozan upazila on Tuesday night.

On June 23, students of International Islamic University of Chittagong (IIUC) caught a 12-feet long python from their campus at Sitakunda upazila.

Contacted, Dr MM Morshed, veterinary surgeon of Chittagong Zoo, told The Daily Star that excessive heat is forcing the pythons leaving their dens.

He said that with the latest five, the number of pythons at the Chittagong Zoo stands at 16. "Some other people came to us with a few more pythons but we could not receive those due to lack of room in the zoo," he added.