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nake dishes can commonly be found in several areas across the archipelagic country, particularly in Manado, a city in North Sulawesi where snake meat is sold at traditional markets. But python meat sold in packages at supermarkets may be a somewhat unusual sight for most commoners.

A photo displaying python meat on sale at a chain supermarket in Manado has gone viral on several social media platforms in Indonesia over the past few days, reviving the debate on the consumption of wildlife.

“Why eat wild meat when you can eat meat from domesticated animals?” Zai, a member of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network’s (JAAN) wildlife team told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

JAAN, along with Manado based news aggregator website ManadoKota.com, was one of parties to upload the photo on Instagram on Sunday.

The photo became a hot topic of debate on social media, receiving mixed reactions ranging from concern, expressions of surprise or disgust, to arguments supporting snake meat consumption in Manado.

North Sulawesi Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) head Agustinus Rante Lembang said that while pythons are not an endangered species hunting should be regulated.

“This year we set the limit on the number of snakes hunters can catch at 100 snakes at a length of 2.4 meters. That means if there are 10 suppliers in the region, then each supplier can only sell 10 snakes,” he told the Post.

Agustinus said that after receiving reports from the public, the agency’s officers immediately went to the retailer, Transmart Carrefour, in Manado to ask for confirmation.

“We wanted to confirm whether it was true that the retailer was selling snake meat.”

He said the agency reported the retailer to the North Sulawesi governor and warned the management against selling wildlife meat should the animal become endangered, as regulated under Law No. 5/1990 on natural resources and ecosystem conservation.

Responding to the debate, Transmart Carrefour corporate communications general manager Satria Hamid said the retail management in Manado decided to sell the meat due to requests from the Manado public.

“Python meat was only sold at Transmart Carrefour in Manado because of public requests for it, but the management only puts the meat on display for two days,” he said, adding that the meat was initially displayed on June 28 and was removed on June 30.

Satria said the management decided to retract the meat after debate went viral on social media.

“We want to respect public opinion,” he said.

Minahasa cultural activist Denni Pinontoan said the trend of eating python meat, called “patola” in the Manadonese language, had arisen recently.

Denni said that Minahasa people were the largest ethnic group in Manado and were not known as snake hunters historically. “The Minahasa people are known as hunters of wild boars, rats and bats,” he said.

Denni said that only certain local people enjoyed eating snake meat, unlike those who liked to consume pork and dog meat.

Inggrid Waroka, a resident of Minahasa, North Sulawesi, is one of the people who enjoy eating python meat. “I love to eat it, but I never dare cook the meat myself,” she said.

In Indonesia, snake meat is not only sold and consumed in Manado. Snake meat is also sold and consumed in several other cities, including Medan, Surabaya and Jakarta. (ecn)