Snake escape prompts panic

An outbreak of over 1,000 snakes caused panic in a village in Hebei Province after they were released last Friday by a group of Beijingers.

The local forestry bureau said yesterday whether the snakes are poisonous or not remains unknown.

"We haven't received reports that anyone was injured by the snakes, but there was widespread panic and anger among residents in Miaoerdong village," said an official, surnamed Zhang, from the Security Bureau of Forestry in Xinlong County, Hebei Province.

"Several hundred snakes have been killed by the villagers, and we don't know how many there still are, or where they are," said Zhang.

According to Zhang, villagers discovered many snakes on surrounding roads and traced them back to a nearby river where a group of people were cleaning black bags and boxes in front of two minivans. Those people claimed they "mercy released" over 500 kilograms of snakes, which they had bought in a Beijing market.

The mercy releasers were fined over 40,000 yuan ($6,288) that day to compensate local villagers.

Some dead snakes were sent away to identify if any were venomous, said Zhang.

"People think freeing captive animals is a good move, but doing it without notifying the administrative department is illegal," said Wang Minzhong, director of the wildlife protection section of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry.

"Doing this kind of improper mercy release can endanger lives and can also seriously disturb the ecological balance," said Wang.

Mercy release is a common feature of Buddhism to show mercy and compassion for all living creatures. Most people choose to release fish or turtles, although snakes have been released on at least two occasions.

Wen Xuan, a local resident with Beijing Shifang mercy group, said they regularly buy fish and set them free in rivers to prevent them from being cooked.

"There's nothing wrong with releasing snakes, but the bad choice of location meant the creatures were killed, not saved, which is a very bad example of the practice," said Wen.

Last May, 100 snakes were crushed by cars after they slithered down a mountain in Fangshan district after having been released. Another 500 kilograms of snakes also caused panic in a village Hebei Province after being set free by a Beijing mercy release group last July.

Beijing water authority announced last year they would send more inspectors to patrol around Beiyun River, Tongzhou district, as large numbers of dead fish and turtles were found after mass mercy releases.