Flood damages Guangxi snake farms, hundreds of snakes escape: village official

(ECNS) -- Flooding in Hengzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, recently damaged a snake farm in Yunbiao Town, allowing hundreds of snakes to escape, Jiupai News, a media outlet in Hubei province, cited a local official as saying.

A village official from Dengxu, Yunbiao Town, Hengzhou City, said preliminary estimates indicate that 800 to 900 snakes escaped after floodwaters destroyed the farm.

More than a dozen residents from nearby villages have voluntarily formed snake-catching teams.

A local resident said Hengzhou is home to 500 to 600 snake farms, with the highest concentration located in Yunbiao Town.

The resident noted that most snake enclosures are built with fine-mesh barriers that typically prevent escapes and that many snakes died in the flooding. The escapes occurred after floodwaters washed away damaged snake enclosures.

(By Kira)