SHANGHAI: A man living alone in eastern China was sentenced to jail for breeding over 300 pythons at home.
This shocking incident was revealed by state media CCTV in late June as a case of “serious” harm to rare and endangered wildlife.
Pythons are classified as Grade Two protected animals in China, and laws prohibit the buying, selling, breeding, and transporting of this species without official permission.
The violator came to police attention after a senior citizen in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, discovered a large snake at the base of a local mountain in March 2024.
The elderly man reported the snake to the authorities, believing the tawny reptile, as thick as an adult’s arm, was unusual for the region.
Officers speculated that the snake had escaped from its breeders, as it was not an indigenous species and snakes are generally inactive in the wild during March.
A professional snake raiser consulted by the police provided a critical lead: pythons require a consistently warm and humid environment, indicating that their breeder must have used substantial electricity to maintain a temperature of 20–30 degrees Celsius.
Police screened nearby residents based on their electricity consumption, ultimately identifying a man, surnamed Guo, as the prime suspect.
Guo lived alone, was unmarried, and unemployed.
Detectives noted that a man named Di frequently visited Guo.
Di often collected parcels from courier stations; these packages contained small white mice bought online.
The online sellers informed the police that the mice were typically bought to feed reptile pets.
Guo had shared photos of snakes on social media, occasionally making indirect references to selling his pythons.
A transaction record indicated that Di had sold two pythons to another individual for 1,000 yuan (US$150).
Armed with these clues, the police decided to arrest Guo and Di for the illegal breeding and sale of pythons.
Upon arriving at Guo’s flat, officers were taken aback and felt a chill as they witnessed numerous plastic boxes stacked high, each housing a python.
Guo had arranged all his furniture in one bedroom while utilising the other two bedrooms and the living room for his reptiles.
In total, 309 pythons were seized from Guo’s residence, which were later transferred to a local zoo.
Guo admitted to having a long-standing interest in snakes and expressed no fear of the species.
He bought four pythons in 2014 and had since been dedicated to researching snake breeding.
“I am capable of cultivating snakes of various colours,” Guo was quoted as saying. “I feel like a creature creator.”
Police discovered that Guo and Di had sold 80 pythons to date.
The shop owner, Deng, who sold four snakes to Guo in 2014, was also arrested. Police found 47 pythons in Deng’s home.
A local court in Taizhou sentenced Guo, Di, and Deng to prison, though the specifics of their sentences were not disclosed in the report.
The case involved a total of 436 pythons, valued at over 30 million yuan (US$4.4 million).
China’s Criminal Law stipulates that violators of regulations concerning Grade Two protected animals may face a maximum prison sentence of five years. - South China Morning Post
