Snakes on the loose

In Asia, a once prized gourmet food has been relegated to the streets - literally. According to this article from Newsday.com, the demand for snake meat has virtually disappeared since the reptiles were discovered to be a carrier of the virus that causes SARS. Unfortunately, the response of many restauranteurs has been to release live snakes, many of which are imported, directly into the streets. The Forestry Bureau in Beijing, China has responded by setting up a snake capture hotline.

Thanks to a member of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting a link to this story.