A man who raises snakes in Zhongshan county of Hezhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has released over 100,000 snakes into nature over the last 20 years, in a bid to balance a once troubled ecosystem.

Yan Peiyou began raising snakes after he retired in 1985. In the early 1990s, illegal hunting of snakes in the county damaged the local ecosystem, resulting in too few snakes and an abundance of mice. The local forestry authority tried to crack down on illegally hunting wild snakes, but to little effect.

While Yan hunted for snakes to stock his farm at that time, he wanted to see the trend reversed and balance restored to the local ecosystem. In 1993, Yan's farm became sustainable on its own stock and he began to release his snakes into the wild, around 5,000 every year, most of which are not poisonous.

Locals doubted his efforts at first, mocking him for releasing his product and saying that nothing would prevent illegal hunting.

Today Yan's farm hatches about 15,000 snakes each year, and one-third is used to process products, one-third is used for cultivation, and the other released, according to Yan. While he makes less than he could, he says that sustaining the local snake population is worth it.

Yan has also become a local expert on snake bites, as he lost a finger early in his career due to a cobra bite, and visited a doctor several times to gain as much knowledge as possible on the subject.

In 2006, a forestry authority worker was bitten by a poisonous snake, and Yan cured him at no charge. In the past 20 years, more than 1,000 people have gone to Yan, all of whom have been cured.

Nanguo Morning Post