How the world’s largest snake hunt hurts Southeast Asia's biggest lake.Each year millions of water snakes are pulled from Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake, degrading this ecological wonder of the world.

Why snakes are disappearing from Southeast Asia’s largest lake
Some vulnerable species of water snakes are disappearing due to overfishing in the world’s most biodiverse lake—the Tonle Sap, in Cambodia.
By Stefan Lovgren

PUBLISHED October 17, 2018

KRAKOR, CAMBODIAHer name is Den Yam, but people know her as the “snake lady.”
We’ve come to the floating village where Yam, 48, lives deep inside the flooded forest surrounding Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, to talk to her about the world’s largest snake hunt.

Sitting on a wooden floor in front of a wall lined with gold-framed portraits of Cambodian royalty, Yam warmly receives our group of fish experts. She explains that area fishermen come to sell her aquatic snakes—“the one with the white belly,” “the one that eats frogs,” and so on—which she then prepares for sale. The skins are boiled and used to feed fish many people keep in their houses to sell or use as food for their families.

Yam dries, seasons, and packs the snake meat into strips for grilling or frying. “It’s very good with beer,” she says with a chuckle.

Most of her snake products are sold wholesale at the local market in Krakor, at the western end of Tonle Sap. A kilo (just over two pounds) of processed meat, which requires some 50 snakes, goes for about 50,000 riel, or $12.50.
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