Snake to Be Better Protected during China's Year of SnakeSnake, a renowned dish on dinner tables, especially in south China, may carry diseases infectious to human beings, ever after the snake is cooked, warned experts.Some Chinese experts have warned snake consumers about their health and environmental protection prospective, according to Yangcheng Evening News, a local newspaper of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. Snakes served at restaurants or sold at markets usually escaped quarantine examination, because most of them are caught in the wild rather than from breeding farms. It usually takes 3-4 years for a snake to reach maturity in breeding farms. The long growth period can not keep up with the increasing market demands. However, wild snakes carry a variety of viruses, such as hepatitis, cancer, tuberculosis and even rabies. Standard quarantine check measures on farm stocks are ineffective at killing some diseases in snakes, according to quarantine experts in Guangzhou. China's annual snake consumption is well above 6,000 tons. Excessive demand has already caused an ecological imbalance in some regions. A state wildlife protection law that went into effect as of December 11 last year has, for the first time, outlawed the catching and smuggling of wild snakes. This year coincides with the Snake Year of China's zodiac. Snakes are respected not just because of their diet value. In China's largest snake breeding farm in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which has some 500,000 snake in stock, tourists rushed to see diversified snake species during the just- ended Spring Festival holiday. |
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