Torrential rains bring devastating floods to a Chinese city – and a snake invasion
Snake Invasion Sweeps Through Flooded Chinese City
Torrential rains bring devastating floods – Residents of Hengzhou are facing an unusual nightmare as hundreds of serpents emerge from the rising waters. This southern Chinese metropolis, home to approximately one million people, has become the stage for what locals describe as a living horror film. Following the passage of Typhoon Maysak, floodwaters have displaced roughly nine hundred snakes, many carrying venomous fangs, into neighborhoods and streets.
The disaster has claimed thirty-nine lives so far, according to official reports. Among the victims is a woman who succumbed to a snakebite, potentially from a cobra that escaped one of the region’s reptile breeding facilities. State media indicates that several additional individuals have suffered bites, though not all cases have been fatal.
More Than Just Snakes
The flooding has created chaos beyond the reptile population. Guigang Zoo, a privately operated facility, experienced catastrophic containment failures. Emergency notices were issued Wednesday evening alerting citizens that escaped creatures—including ostriches, emus, raccoons, two zebras, a humpback ox, three miniature horses, and two donkeys—might display aggressive behavior when startled.
Zoo proprietor Yin Feifei revealed that employees risked their safety securing predator enclosures as water levels surged. Tragically, three lions perished in the deluge. “We could not allow predators to escape during the flood and create an additional public safety risk,” he explained to reporters.
Agricultural losses have been equally severe. Local media outlet Shangyou News reports that over sixteen thousand pigs were swept away by the torrent. Online footage captured heavy equipment retrieving the animals from the water in a manner reminiscent of arcade claw machines.
A City Built on Snakes
Hengzhou occupies a strategic position in southeastern Guangxi, situated on a broad central plain encircled by mountain ranges and crisscrossed by more than six hundred and sixty rivers. The area is celebrated as China’s jasmine capital, where the aromatic flower has been cultivated for half a millennium to produce fragrant tea.
However, the region’s reputation extends far beyond horticulture. Over recent decades, Hengzhou and the broader Guangxi territory have transformed into a major center for snake husbandry. A publication affiliated with the regional government, Guangxi Daily, documented that by two thousand twenty, the province housed nearly twenty million snakes across fourteen thousand breeding operations. One hundred and five different species inhabit the area, which shares a border with Vietnam and encompasses numerous ethnic minority communities.
Traditional practices include consuming snake meat, considered highly nutritious. Today, however, most operations focus on pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Cobras and common rat snakes dominate the breeding programs. While rat snakes pose no threat to humans, cobra venom can prove lethal.
Capturing the Escapees
What began as an economic opportunity has become a logistical challenge. Mr. Zhu, representing a volunteer snake-catching unit in Hengzhou, shared details of their efforts with Beijing News. His team of seven or eight members worked without pause for forty-eight hours, securing between two thousand and three thousand reptiles—surpassing initial projections.
“We caught two or three thousand in two days – we’ve basically cleared them all out.”
According to Zhu, snakes typically retreat to hidden locations like house corners following heavy rainfall. Villagers alert the capture team when they spot the creatures, which are then transferred to experts for eventual release into natural habitats.
Video documentation shows residents actively participating in the recovery effort. One clip features a man pursuing a swimming serpent while bystanders prepare nets. Another individual wearing a vivid pink raincoat lunges toward the water, attempting to grab the reptile before a companion snatches it from the surface. The footage captures a mixture of screams and laughter as people work together to secure the animals.
Officials continue to emphasize that snakebites can prove fatal. Some villagers reported that flooding prevented them from reaching medical assistance in time for the woman who died from her bite. Authorities have responded by deploying additional snake catchers, increasing antivenom supplies, and preparing hospital staff for potential surges in bite cases.
