Asia-pacific

Snake breeders cash in on new year

Chinese town of Zisiquiao breeds more than three million snakes every year and only expect business to improve.
Last Modified: 09 Feb 2013 20:11

All 160 families in the Chinese town of Zisiquiao earn a living the same way - breeding snakes like pythons, cobras and vipers.

More than three million are bred there every year and are then sold off as high demand snake products for leather, culinary and medicinal purposes.

The sales for the entire village reach US $15 million per year, and the village only expects things to get better now that it is the Year of the Snake.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports from Hong Kong.

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Source:
Al Jazeera
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