Officials are hunting for hundreds of snakes released into the wild by a group of karma-hungry Buddhists as they now look set to freeze to death.
Members of the Forestry Bureau were called urgently to the village of Nanzhangjing in Jingxing County in North China’s Hebei Province and on 19th October began looking for more than 300 snakes which are expected to freeze to death in the coming months.
The serpents, mostly of the nonvenomous king ratsnake (Elaphe carinata) variety, were shipped to the village outskirts in boxes and dumped on the side of the road without authorisation, officials said.
Village chief Yin Haikuan said: “One of our villagers drove past here yesterday and saw people with lots of boxes and crates.
“After they left, they discovered all the snakes. They are believed to have released between 300 to 400 snakes.”
Forestry official Li Tongli added: “Large numbers of snakes were discovered on either side of the road. There were roughly 300 to 400 of them.
“We believe they were brought here for the purposes of being release.”
The majority of the snakes are still unaccounted for despite several days of searching, the Forestry Bureau reported.
The authorities believe the mass release was done as part of a Buddhist practice known as ‘fangsheng’ or ‘life release’, which sees animals otherwise destined for slaughter purchased and set free in the wild.
The action is believed to bring good karma to those who partake in the sparing of lives.
However, officials have suggested the well-meaning group did not have much knowledge about the species of snake they were releasing, or the area they were to inhabit.
They said “more than 90 percent” of the snakes would die in the approaching winter due to the unsuitable and mostly barren surroundings.
Mr Li said: “Before groups seek to release animals, they should first contact forestry officials to confirm the species and quantity of animals, as well as the location of the release.”
Members of the public and tourists have been asked to be cautious as the search for the remaining hundreds of snakes continues.
it was unclear whether the Buddhist group would be punished if and when it is identified.
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Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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