text: The search for a two-metre South American boa constrictor, on the loose after police mistakenly believed it was a harmless Australian python and set it free, has been called off. The bizarre search began on Queensland's Gold Coast as authorities tried to locate the reptile which could pose a threat to local wildlife and even people's pet cats and dogs. Snake catcher Tony Harrison warned that if the large-predatory boa has Inclusion Body Disease 'it can be unbelievably contagious if that gets loose in Australia'. Mr Harrison told Daily Mail Australia: 'Police should have called the snake catchers and we'd have euthanised it. That was very silly of them.' But Biosecurity Queensland officials have now given up looking for the snake and authorities will instead put up a warning sign. The notice will reportedly tell dog owners and small children to 'watch out', the Gold Coast Bulletin reports. Scroll down for video . Queensland Police found the snake at the base of a tree on a footpath (pictured) in Surfers Paradise and then released it into the wild . Queensland Police say officers were called to The Esplanade at Surfers Paradise on or about March 26, to respond to reports of a large snake spotted at the base of a tree on a footpath. The officers released the reptile into bushland at the Southport Spit, sparking an operation by Biosecurity Queensland officers who say the snake isn't a harmless python after all. Mr Harrison believes the snake - likely to be an illegal import that was kept as a pet - will be found 'within a month' but there are fears if the boa is pregnant there could then be up to 30 live young on the loose. The reptile which could pose a threat to local wildlife and even people's pet cats and dogs (stock photo) South American boa constrictors  have varying patterns of cream, brown, tan, gray, and black with ovals and diamonds . 'They can eat up to three times their girth, no more or less than pythons and including a cat or small dog, but the biggest problem is if it was going to give birth,' Mr Harrison warned. Biosecurity Queensland was working with the Gold Coast City Council in a bid to find the snake. 'Police originally caught it in a sheet after spotting it under a tree in Surfers Paradise before they released it in bushland at The Spit,' a spokesman said. 'They say they captured the snake when it started moving towards people.' South American boa constrictors are pinkish or tan in colour and have varying patterns of cream, brown, tan, gray, and black with ovals and diamonds.
target: The boa constrictor is still on the loose on Queensland's Gold Coast .
  Police released it into the wild because they thought it was a python .
  The South American snake poses a biosecurity hazard .
  Snake catcher Tony Harrison said it was probably imported illegally .
  Fears that if the snake is pregnant up to 30 live young could also be loose .