Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industry
Snake soup continues to be an iconic tradition in Cantonese culture. Yet little is known about the relationship between snake soup consumption in Hong Kong, wild snake populations, and the communities depending on this tradition for their livelihoods. We applied an interdisciplinary approach includi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Oryx |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0030605321001630/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797754599979876352 |
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| author | Félix Landry Yuan Chung Tai Yeung Tracey-Leigh Prigge Pauline C. Dufour Yik-Hei Sung Caroline Dingle Timothy C. Bonebrake |
| author_facet | Félix Landry Yuan Chung Tai Yeung Tracey-Leigh Prigge Pauline C. Dufour Yik-Hei Sung Caroline Dingle Timothy C. Bonebrake |
| author_sort | Félix Landry Yuan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Snake soup continues to be an iconic tradition in Cantonese culture. Yet little is known about the relationship between snake soup consumption in Hong Kong, wild snake populations, and the communities depending on this tradition for their livelihoods. We applied an interdisciplinary approach including interviews with shopkeepers and genetic analyses of snake meat samples to determine the species consumed in Hong Kong, their source locations, and shopkeepers’ views on the future of the industry. We genetically identified the common rat snake Ptyas mucosa, widely distributed throughout East and Southeast Asia, and the Javan spitting cobra Naja sputatrix, endemic to Indonesia, as the species most commonly consumed, which was consistent with interview responses. According to interviews, snakes had mostly been imported from mainland China in the past, but now tend to be sourced from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. Interviews also revealed a pessimistic outlook on the continuation of this tradition because of various factors, including a lasting yet misinformed association of snakes with the 2002–2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Given the COVID-19 pandemic and China's ensuing ban on the consumption of terrestrial wildlife, Hong Kong's snake soup industry will probably continue to rely on Southeast Asian sources to persist. Given the cultural and conservation issues surrounding this tradition, further research on the economic, ecological and social consequences of snake consumption is needed to examine the broader implications of snake soup and similar industries in the region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:34:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9924a47bb3af42bea998591342c2b9c3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0030-6053 1365-3008 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:34:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Oryx |
| spelling | doaj.art-9924a47bb3af42bea998591342c2b9c32023-08-04T12:01:30ZengCambridge University PressOryx0030-60531365-30082023-01-0157404710.1017/S0030605321001630Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industryFélix Landry Yuan0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5310-9032Chung Tai Yeung1Tracey-Leigh Prigge2Pauline C. Dufour3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5374-9195Yik-Hei Sung4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0026-8624Caroline Dingle5Timothy C. Bonebrake6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9999-2254School of Biological Sciences, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaSchool of Biological Sciences, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaSchool of Biological Sciences, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaSchool of Biological Sciences, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaScience Unit, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaSchool of Biological Sciences, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaSchool of Biological Sciences, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaSnake soup continues to be an iconic tradition in Cantonese culture. Yet little is known about the relationship between snake soup consumption in Hong Kong, wild snake populations, and the communities depending on this tradition for their livelihoods. We applied an interdisciplinary approach including interviews with shopkeepers and genetic analyses of snake meat samples to determine the species consumed in Hong Kong, their source locations, and shopkeepers’ views on the future of the industry. We genetically identified the common rat snake Ptyas mucosa, widely distributed throughout East and Southeast Asia, and the Javan spitting cobra Naja sputatrix, endemic to Indonesia, as the species most commonly consumed, which was consistent with interview responses. According to interviews, snakes had mostly been imported from mainland China in the past, but now tend to be sourced from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. Interviews also revealed a pessimistic outlook on the continuation of this tradition because of various factors, including a lasting yet misinformed association of snakes with the 2002–2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Given the COVID-19 pandemic and China's ensuing ban on the consumption of terrestrial wildlife, Hong Kong's snake soup industry will probably continue to rely on Southeast Asian sources to persist. Given the cultural and conservation issues surrounding this tradition, further research on the economic, ecological and social consequences of snake consumption is needed to examine the broader implications of snake soup and similar industries in the region.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0030605321001630/type/journal_articleConservation issuesCOVID-19Hong KonginterviewsSARSSoutheast Asiasnake soupwildlife trade |
| spellingShingle | Félix Landry Yuan Chung Tai Yeung Tracey-Leigh Prigge Pauline C. Dufour Yik-Hei Sung Caroline Dingle Timothy C. Bonebrake Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industry Oryx Conservation issues COVID-19 Hong Kong interviews SARS Southeast Asia snake soup wildlife trade |
| title | Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industry |
| title_full | Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industry |
| title_fullStr | Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industry |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industry |
| title_short | Conservation and cultural intersections within Hong Kong's snake soup industry |
| title_sort | conservation and cultural intersections within hong kong s snake soup industry |
| topic | Conservation issues COVID-19 Hong Kong interviews SARS Southeast Asia snake soup wildlife trade |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0030605321001630/type/journal_article |
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