Dr Daniel Natusch has eaten python in almost every way imaginable.
“I’ve had it barbecued. I’ve had it in satay skewers. I’ve had it in curries. I’ve had it with Indigenous people in the wilds of the Malaysian jungle,” he said.
“I’ve even done it myself as biltong – uncooked meats that are dried with herbs.”
At the risk of sounding like a cliche, the reptile expert says the meat tastes just like chicken.
But to try it, you’d likely have to fly somewhere like Thailand or Vietnam where Natusch and Botswana-based ecologist, Dr Patrick Aust, have worked monitoring commercial python farms.
A paper co-authored by the researchers found the commercial farming of these reptiles could offer a sustainable alternative to conventional livestock in places like southern Africa amid the challenges of food security and climate change.
Stock would be hatched from eggs laid at farms, not wild caught, with candidate species including the Burmese python, reticulated python and the southern African rock python.
“These pythons can live for almost a month with no water. They can live off the water that sets on their scales in the morning. They can go for almost a year without eating,” Natusch said.
“We’re not necessarily saying everyone should stop eating beef and turn to pythons but there needs to be a conversation about them having a more prominent place in the agricultural mix.”
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Natusch, the chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Snake Specialist Group, said pythons have other advantages. His research found they could be a more efficient protein source than livestock, poultry or salmon.
This is because, according to the researchers, reptiles require less water, produce fewer greenhouse gases, are more resilient to extreme climatic conditions and don’t transmit diseases like bird flu or Covid-19.
Would Australians put snake on their plate?
Natusch lives in Cairns in far north Queensland where crocodile meat is readily available, but he thinks Australians might not be ready to eat python just yet.
“If humanity is serious about genuinely implementing sustainable practices and future-proofing ourselves, we need to start thinking outside the box,” he said.
“But I totally get that your average Australian is probably going to turn up their nose at a bit of python steak.”
Commercial farming is more likely to take off in parts of Africa and Asia where eating snake is not as taboo, according to the researchers.
Aust believes it could be a viable option in southern Africa particularly where a severe drought is killing off livestock.
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“Considering Africa is currently experiencing the brunt of an unprecedented El Niño-driven drought, where conventional livestock are dropping dead in the fields, the ability to regulate metabolic processes and maintain body condition that reptiles offer during times of famine could be a gamechanger for livestock production,” he said.
Commercial python farming is far less likely in Australia where there aren’t too many species that would be suitable, according to Natusch.
“We have the pygmy python over in the Pilbara – the world’s smallest species of python, that’s not much bigger than your index finger,” Natusch said.
“There aren’t too many Australian candidates you’d get an enormous fillet off – maybe a diamond python or carpet python.”
But Lin Schwarzkopf, head of zoology and ecology at James Cook University, said a much closer examination of all the facets of growing pythons was needed before deciding whether we should eat the reptile.
“There’s a basic problem with feeding people predators that I don’t see how you’re getting rid of with the pythons,” she said.
“I would need to see more information about the supply chain before I thought it was a great idea.”
Schwarzkopf said pythons grew very quickly but were not easy to grow.
“They need to change their body temperature voluntarily. So you have to provide them with warm areas and cooler areas. And that’s a difficult thing to do on an industrial scale, and it’s very expensive,” she said.
“What we should be doing is feeding the world with plant material if we want to support large numbers of people.”
