The great snake escape

Farming wake-up call

Guangxi, which is the world's largest source of snake raw materials, had over 30 million snakes in captivity as of 2025, accounting for 80 percent of the total snake farming in China. Hengzhou is one of the three major snake farming counties in the region, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

In Hengzhou, species like cobras and rat snakes are raised primarily for their medicinal and cosmetic value.

A local breeder surnamed Huang, who has 16 years' experience in the industry, told Jiupai News that snakes are kept in temperature-and humidity-controlled places fitted with wire mesh. Escapes only occur when floodwaters destroy the structures, Huang said.

"After the flood, many farmers' snakes were drowned. Only a very small number escaped," she said.

The incident has drawn renewed attention to the vulnerabilities of snake farming during extreme weather events.

Huang Song, a professor of ecology at Anhui Normal University, told CPPCC Daily that while current industry access policies are relatively well-regulated, flood safety risk assessments for snake farms have long been neglected.

He recommended that farm site selection be incorporated into a flood risk assessment framework, emergency containment plans for extreme weather events be established, and that post-disaster public education on snake avoidance be strengthened to enhance people's awareness of proactive self-protection.

Xu Xudong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and dean of the school of life sciences at Central China Normal University, told CPPCC Daily that the convergence of natural disasters and specialty livestock farming poses new challenges to the biosafety and public health emergency response systems.

"For venomous snake farming and other specialty livestock operations, we cannot simply manage them as small-scale industries," he said.

He recommended they be registered with authorities responsible for emergency response work, public health, and ecological and environmental protection. "Risk assessments should be conducted at the outset of operations, and they should receive supervision, guidance, and services throughout the farming and management process," said Xu.

zhangxiaomin@chinadaily.com.cn