900 Snakes Escape in Guangxi, Exposing China’s Snake Farming Industry

When Typhoon Maysak tore through southern China in early July 2026, it brought more than floodwaters to the village of Dengwei in Guangxi’s Hengzhou region. The storm breached the Liulan Reservoir’s eastern dam on July 6, sending torrents through a local snake farm and releasing approximately 800 to 900 snakes — including venomous cobras — into the flooded countryside. The incident has left at least one villager dead and drawn renewed scrutiny to China’s sprawling, multi-billion-dollar snake farming industry.

The Incident: A Deadly Convergence of Flood and Serpent

The escape occurred when the snake farm, owned by a local farmer surnamed Li, was destroyed by floodwaters from the breached reservoir. The released snakes included cobras (venomous), king snakes, and water rat snakes (mostly non-venomous), according to The Paper.

Among the victims was Lu Cuilian, a 60-year-old villager who was bitten on the neck and arm by a cobra carried by the flood on the morning of July 6. According to her nephew, as reported by The Cover, she had gone downstairs to secure the door against the flood when “timber mixed with snakes was washed down by the flood. The snake first bit her carotid artery; when she tried to pull it off, it bit her hand.” Due to flooded roads that prevented medical evacuation, she died on July 8.

A second fatality — a woman in her 40s or 50s — was reported by The Beijing News, as covered by Lianhe Zaobao. Several other villagers were bitten but survived after receiving treatment, including a villager surnamed Qin who was bitten while cleaning debris on July 7.

Response: Snake-Catching Teams Deployed

In the aftermath, the Nanning forestry department dispatched professional snake-catching teams to conduct house-to-house searches in Dengwei Village. They captured several cobras, noting that some came from the farm while others were wild snakes washed down from the mountains. The Hengzhou city government replenished anti-venom serum stockpiles, dispatched medical experts from the autonomous region, and launched public education campaigns on snake bite prevention.

Local authorities advised residents to avoid riversides and grassy areas and to call 120 immediately if bitten. A villager told Shangyou News that snakes were still being found in homes days after the flood: “In the past few days, we see snakes every day, many of them cobras.”

Guangxi’s Snake Industry: From Backyard Operations to a 50 Billion Yuan Ambition

The incident has cast a spotlight on Guangxi’s position as China’s — and the world’s — largest snake farming hub. The province accounts for approximately 70-80% of China’s total snake output, with annual commercial production exceeding 30 million snakes as of 2025, up from 20 million in 2020.

The industry’s roots trace back to the 1980s, when farmers began raising snakes in small backyard operations. By 2011, the sector boomed — Ling County alone had 40 licensed farms and 3,200 households, with annual output of 1.56 million snakes. The saying “Farming ten acres is not as good as raising a house of snakes” captured the industry’s profitability.

A major turning point came in February 2020, when China’s National People’s Congress passed a sweeping ban on wildlife consumption, devastating the snake meat market. According to 36Kr / Times Weekly, the industry underwent a dramatic transformation, shifting from food consumption to medicinal and health products. Farms consolidated from over 30,000 small-scale operations to approximately 300 large-scale enterprises.

Economic Transformation and Regulatory Debate

Yang Peisheng, Chair of the Guangxi Wildlife Protection Association’s Medicinal Snake Committee, told The Paper that in the traditional “farming-restaurant” chain, Guangxi’s snake industry was worth only tens of billions of yuan. But by shifting to “farming-medical R&D-deep processing” — producing high-value products like anti-cancer drugs and medical aesthetics raw materials — the industry scale could exceed 50 billion yuan.

Snake oil-based skincare products, including hand creams and face creams, have already become popular consumer goods. Farmers like Li Yong, who has raised snakes for 30 years, downsized from 70,000 to 6,000 snakes post-2020 and now focuses on medicinal cobra breeding and anti-cancer drug research, maintaining annual revenues in the millions of yuan.

However, the regulatory debate continues. In February 2026, delegate Chen Chuangbing proposed restoring edible use of farmed cobras and rat snakes at the Guangxi People’s Congress. The Guangxi Forestry Bureau responded that under current law, artificially-bred snakes classified as nationally protected wildlife remain banned for consumption.

What’s Next: Safety Concerns and Industry Future

The Dengwei incident has raised urgent questions about disaster preparedness for specialized farms in flood-prone areas. Deng Zhouyan, head of a local breeding cooperative, noted that “snakes generally don’t escape, but if the snake house is destroyed by floodwaters, there’s nothing to be done.” He expressed concern that the incident could further damage the industry’s reputation, which was already recovering from the 2020 wildlife ban.

As climate change increases the frequency of extreme weather events, the intersection of natural disasters and specialized agricultural industries creates cascading risks that regulators are only beginning to address. The incident serves as a stark reminder that Guangxi’s ambition to build a 50 billion yuan snake industry must be matched by robust safety standards and disaster preparedness — lessons written in the floodwaters that carried 900 snakes into the homes of Dengwei Village.