Why Do Cambodians Eat Snake? A Deep Dive Into a Food Tradition Under Pressure

Grilled at a street stall, dried on a rural market table, or simmered into a sour soup, snake has long been part of the diet for some Cambodians, particularly around the Tonlé Sap. But behind this quiet culinary habit lies one of the largest wildlife harvests on the planet — and mounting pressure on a resource scientists increasingly consider unsustainable.

A vendor weighs a freshly caught water snake at a Cambodian market

The world's largest water snake trade

The Tonlé Sap, Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake, is home to one of the most intense snake harvests ever documented. A study published in the journal Biological Conservation, based on 2004–2005 data, estimated that more than 770 tonnes of snakes — roughly 6.9 million individual animals — were traded around the lake each year, making it the largest freshwater snake trade in the world. More recent work led by the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity and the School for Field Studies, supported by Cambodia's Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, confirms the pressure remains significant: a study published in the same journal estimates that Cambodia's crocodile farms alone consume between 2.7 and 12.2 million snakes a year.

From accidental catch to organised trade

Most of these snakes are caught unintentionally, as bycatch in the nets Tonlé Sap fishermen set for fish. Historically, they were used mainly to feed the region's many crocodile farms — an estimated one thousand of which operate in Cambodia, according to the IUCN — with the largest consuming up to 300 kilograms of snakes a week, according to a researcher from the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity quoted by the Bernama news agency. In recent years, though, a growing share of the catch has gone directly to human consumption: fishermen sell their catch to specialised traders, who then distribute it as dried or cooked meat at rural stalls, an activity that has become a supplementary source of income for many families living around the lake.

A crocodile at a Cambodian farm, the historic main outlet for the Tonlé Sap snake trade

What's eaten, and how

The most commonly consumed species are non-venomous water snakes from the Homalopsidae family — notably the rainbow water snake and Bocourt's water snake — along with the Tonlé Sap snake, a species endemic to the lake. Grilled, fried, or simmered into a sour soup (sngao rochrok, a herb-and-tamarind preparation found in several Khmer recipes), snake meat remains a marginal food nationally, but a well-established resource in communities living around the Tonlé Sap and in some street markets in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, alongside other less common proteins like fried insects or frogs. According to a National Geographic report on the trade, a pregnant female is even considered by some to be a particular delicacy.

A Cambodian street food stall where grilled meat and skewers cook over charcoal

A lean, protein-rich meat

Nutritionally, snake meat has a profile that has drawn the interest of several research teams in recent years. It is generally low in fat and rich in complete protein, supplying the full range of essential amino acids, along with collagen. A comparative study published in the journal Food Chemistry: X on the meat of several neotropical reptiles also found lower cholesterol levels than in conventionally farmed meats. On the production side, a study by Macquarie University in Australia, looking at commercial python farms in Southeast Asia, found that pythons converted feed into body mass more efficiently than chicken or beef, leading the authors to suggest snake farming could be worth exploring as a lower-impact protein source. These findings come with caveats: nutritional composition varies considerably between species, and none of these studies specifically examined the species eaten in Cambodia.

Snake wine and traditional medicine: an unproven promise

In Cambodia, as elsewhere in Southeast Asia, snake isn't consumed only as food: it also turns up whole, steeped in rice wine, in the bottles of snake wine sold at markets, including Phsar Chas in Phnom Penh. The practice sits within the broader tradition of Khmer medicinal alcohols, often prepared by Kru Khmer, traditional healers whose knowledge is passed down orally from generation to generation. The drink is credited with tonic properties, said to boost circulation and vitality. But as an article in the British magazine Geographical points out, these claimed benefits rest mainly on popular belief and have not, to date, received any serious scientific validation. The same article highlights a very real risk: some informal producers substitute methylated spirits or even formaldehyde for traditional rice wine, with potentially serious consequences for consumers' health.

Aerial view of the fishing village of Kampong Khleang, on the Tonlé Sap, in Siem Reap Province

A documented health risk: sparganosis

Beyond belief systems, eating snake carries a specific, well-documented health risk: sparganosis. This parasitic disease, caused by the larvae of a flatworm in the genus Spirometra, is transmitted in particular through eating raw or undercooked snake or frog meat. A review published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases documents more than 1,600 human cases worldwide, the vast majority in East and Southeast Asia. Once ingested, the larvae can migrate into subcutaneous tissue and, more rarely, into the central nervous system, causing local lesions, neurological symptoms or, in the most severe cases, brain damage. Prevention rests on a simple but essential principle, reiterated in several clinical studies on the subject: cook snake meat thoroughly before eating it, and avoid any contact between raw flesh and open wounds, a practice still used in some traditional remedies in the region.

A resource under growing pressure

That leaves the question of how sustainable the practice really is. Researchers who have studied the Tonlé Sap since the mid-2000s note a worrying trend: several fishermen interviewed by National Geographic reported catches down by 30 to 40 percent in parts of the lake over the past decade. The Tonlé Sap snake, an endemic species classified as vulnerable, is particularly exposed, as are adult females caught before they can reproduce. In response, teams at the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity are calling for reduced harvesting during breeding seasons, better protection for large breeding females, and community education efforts. The challenge is a real one: for thousands of families among the country's poorest fishing communities, snake remains an accessible resource and a welcome source of supplementary income, on a lake already under strain from overfishing and shifting hydrology.