Pythonidae: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:25, 1 April 2025

Revision as of 16:40, 10 May 2025

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==Relationship with humans==

=== Poaching pythons ===

[[Poaching]] of pythons is a lucrative business with the global python skin trade being an estimated US$1 billion as of 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-20509720|title=Concerns raised over python trade|last=McGrath|first=Matt | name-list-style = vanc |date=2012-11-28|access-date=2019-03-14|language=en-GB}}</ref> Pythons are poached for their meat, mostly consumed locally as [[bushmeat]] and their skin, which is sent to Europe and North America for manufacture of accessories like bags, belts and shoes.<ref name = "Jensen_2017">{{cite web|first=Timm Juul|last=Jensen|name-list-style=vanc|url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/09/05/large-snakes-are-on-the-menu-at-cameroons-nkoldongo-bushmeat-market/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108033842/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/09/05/large-snakes-are-on-the-menu-at-cameroons-nkoldongo-bushmeat-market/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 8, 2018|title=Large snakes are on the menu at Cameroon's Nkoldongo bushmeat market|work=National Geographic Society Newsroom|date=5 September 2017|access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> The demand for poaching is increased because python farming is very expensive.<ref>{{cite news | first = Victoria | last = Turk | name-list-style = vanc |url=https://motherboardwww.vice.com/en_usen/article/pgapvv/snake-farms-could-tackle-the-billion-dollar-black-market-for-python-skin/|title=Snake Farms Could Tackle the Billion Dollar Black Market for Python Skin|date=2014-04-02|work=Motherboard|access-date=2019-03-14|language=en-us}}</ref>

In [[Cameroon]] bushmeat markets, the [[Central African rock python]] is commonly sold for meat and is very expensive at US$175.<ref name = "Jensen_2017" /> The poaching of the pythons is illegal in [[Cameroon]] under their wildlife law, but there is little to no enforcement. In [[Kenya]], there has been an increase in snake farms to address the demand for [[snakeskin]] internationally, but there are health concerns for the workers, and danger due to poachers coming to the farms to hunt the snakes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38499611|title=The rising popularity of snake farms|last=Njeru|first=Gitonga| name-list-style = vanc |date=2017-01-19|access-date=2019-03-14|language=en-GB}}</ref>