COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Ohio zoo says the longest snake living in captivity has died.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium says workers found the 24-foot python Wednesday morning dead from an apparent tumor.

The snake was named Fluffy. It held the Guinness World Record as the longest snake living in captivity. It was about as long as a moving van and as thick as a telephone pole. It weighed 300 pounds.

The 18-year-old reticulated python had drawn large crowds since the zoo got it in 2007.

Reticulated pythons are named for the cross-hatching patterns on their skin and average 10 to 20 feet long. The largest recorded one was 32 feet, 9 1/2 inches long when it was killed in 1912 in Indonesia.

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Online:

http://columbuszoo.org

This undated photo released by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, shows Fluffy, a reticulated python at the zoo. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium says workers found Fluffy dead Wednesday morning from an apparent tumor. The 18-year-old snake was 24-feet-long and 300-pounds and held the title of longest snake living in captivity by Guinness World Records.

(AP Photo/Columbus Zoo)