Scaling back on snake slaughter

IN Claxton, Georgia, USA, the annual rattlesnake roundup is being transformed into a “rattlesnake and wildlife festival”.

The reptiles will no longer be hunted down and killed for public entertainment. “We are moving towards an event which promotes co-existence and wildlife stewardship,” says Jessica du Bois, Humane Society director for Georgia.

Meanwhile, according to the New York Daily News, a thousand hunters converged on the Everglades last week to take part in the month-long Python Challenge in which dozens of snakes will be killed.