Boo hiss? Mixed feelings toward new zodiac animal(3)

YEAR OF LOVING SNAKE?

The good news for snakes is that many Chinese scholars and animal rights activists are taking advantage of the snake year to give the reptiles a better name and save them from the kitchen.

Folklorists, for their part, argue that the snake is in fact a symbol of luck, wisdom and fertility in Chinese culture. One legendary figure beloved by the Chinese, they point out, is also a snake known as "White Lady."

Having been adapted into many operas, films and TV series, the figure is the central character of a story in which she falls in love with a doctor in Hangzhou whom she marries in the form of a woman. The couple save many locals from a deadly plague until they are separated by a Buddhist monk, who imprisons the snake-turned wife under a pagoda.

"The white snake is depicted as a perfect woman, who uses her magic power to save people's lives," says Lin Ying, who plays White Lady in a Fuzhou-based opera troupe. "It shows the Chinese people's reverence for snakes and the wish to be on good terms with them."

Zhang Liang, a Guangdong-based researcher of amphibians and reptiles, says he and his colleagues at conservation institutions expect a busy new year, with a range of exhibitions planned to show the "beautiful side" of snakes and lobby for their better protection.

Zhang explains that wild snakes in China are now threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting and random attacks by snake-phobic villagers.

"But overall, the situation is improving. Now more young people see snakes as pets rather than as a dish. To us, this is indeed a cheering trend," the researcher adds.

In Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, a reptile pet store is patiently waiting for the coming spring to awaken its hibernated snakes and lure in more potential buyers.

"Raising a pet snake will bring you good luck in the Year of the Snake," according to the shop's owner, Li Di, who expects his pet snake sales to double in 2013.

Li has good reason to be upbeat. Beside his reptile store is another pet shop selling rabbits. Its owner, Xia Xiaojun, still recalls the business boom in 2011, when the fluffy animal was the zodiac sign of the year.

"The bunnies became such best sellers that my stock was often sold out before the end of the day. Many customers offered three times their usual prices in order to book one," Xia recalls.