Eh, you ask Perl monks about python, you can't be surprised when they get the details wrong... To replicate the python zip's behavior:

sub python_zip(\@\@;\@\@\@) { # Add more \@ to taste
   my $short = min(map(scalar(@$_), @_));
   return &zip(map(@$_ == $short ? $_ : [@$_[0..$short-1]], @_));
}
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