Farmed pythons improve protein for chicken or cattle

Madrid. Pythons are a low-emissions, climate-resilient food source, converting food into protein better than chickens or cattle, according to new research.

Farm-raised pythons may offer a new form of sustainable and efficient livestock to boost food security, according to new research led by Macquarie University.

A study conducted on two commercial python farms in Southeast Asia led by honorary researcher Dr. Daniel Natusch of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, found that pythons convert feed into weight gain remarkably efficiently compared to conventional livestock, such as chickens and cattle.

“In terms of food and protein conversion ratios, pythons outperform all major agricultural species studied to date. We found that pythons grew rapidly to reach ‘sacrificial weight’ within the first year after hatching,” Dr. Natusch said in a statement.

Snake meat is white and very rich in protein, says Dr. Natusch.

The researchers compared reticulated pythons (Malayopython reticulatus) and Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) grown on commercial python farms in Thailand and Vietnam, testing the effects of different feeding regimes.

“Climate change, disease and declining natural resources are increasing pressure on conventional livestock and vegetable crops, with dire effects for many people in low-income countries already suffering from acute protein deficiency,” says Dr Natusch.

Failures in conventional agri-food systems leading to widespread food insecurity are driving interest in alternative food sources, he says.

Cold-blooded reptiles… are vastly more efficient at converting the food they eat into more meat and body tissue than any warm-blooded creature. Snake meat is a sustainable, high-protein, low-saturated-fat food source that is already widely consumed in Southeast Asia and China.

“However, although large-scale python farming is well established in Asia, it has received little attention from mainstream agricultural scientists,” says Dr Natusch.

“Snakes need a minimal amount of water and can even live off the dew that settles on their scales in the morning. They need very little food and feed on rodents and other pests that attack food crops. And they were a delicacy, historically, in many places.

“Our study suggests that python farming as a complement to existing livestock systems can offer a flexible and efficient response to global food insecurity.”