These scientists say python farms are the future of food.

More and more people are deciding to reduce or even eliminate their meat consumption. The reasons range from health concerns to environmental concerns, including, of course, animal rights. In some cases this may also be due to Lack of resources. There are countries where there is no strong economic infrastructure to support farms or pasture crops. For this reason, an international team of scientists explored the most intriguing alternative: consumption python meat

These researchers, whose results can be read in Scientific reports, analyzed the consequences of breeding pythons on a commercial scale. To do this, they spent 12 months studying the evolution of several farms of these snakes located in Thailand. In particular, two different types of pythons were bred there: Malayopyton reticulata And Bivittatus Python.

They noted several factors why eating python meat may be an ideal alternative to other animals. However, most of these factors agree on one thing: these snakes are surprisingly resilient. fast.

Super fast snakes

Pythons opportunistic predators. This means that they feast heavily when they have the opportunity, but in times when food is scarce, they are able to survive without eating anything. In fact, there are species that can go without food for more than a year.

This is possible thanks to his ability adapt your metabolic rate as it suits them. This speed refers to the minimum amount of energy they need to complete all their tasks. physiological functions at rest.

If there is a shortage of food, they will not be able to obtain energy through food. Therefore, they significantly reduce the metabolic rate while almost turn it off. On the other hand, when they have the opportunity to hunt, they significantly increase this figure. They take advantage of the opportunity to overload themselves with nutrients, even eating 25% of their body weight in one meal. This nutrient overload can cause Liver injury, like other animals. However, these snakes are able to inactivate the metabolic pathways that lead to said damage.

This is the main reason why the authors of the just published study initially thought that python meat might be a good option. And they can be raised on farms with minimal food, so the balance of food they consume relative to the meat they produce is very low.

In particular, it was calculated that with python meat 1.2and for salmon – 1.5, for poultry – 2.8, for pork – 6, for beef – 10.

Other benefits of python meat

The fact that they don’t need as much food has many benefits. Firstly, this is, of course, financial savings. It is also less costly to the environment for the same reason. Even waste from other factories can be reused. This is the case, for example, with squirrels from poultry farms.

On the other hand, in countries with low economic resources, farm animals often get sick due to improper feeding. This also creates problems food safetyas they can transmit diseases to people who consume their meat.

This problem could be reduced by eating python meat, since these animals do not get sick if they go without food for a long time.

There are still quite a few restrictions

According to these scientists, consuming python meat is the future. But they acknowledge that some obstacles still exist. On the one hand, the population may be reluctant to eat these reptiles. Something very culturedso there will be countries in which this will not be a problem, but in others it may become an obstacle.

It can also take a lot work, at least initially, such close attention will have to be paid to costs. And we can’t forget that the effects of python meat need to be studied. about health. After all, this is one of the reasons why many people are reducing their meat consumption.

The only thing that could not be resolved is the fact of reducing this consumption to ensure animal rights. The snake is just as alive and feels the same way as a cow or a chicken. At that time, there would have been no future for python meat. But in resource-limited countries where a cheap supply of protein is needed to survive, this could be an interesting option.