Within days of “Zootopia 2” hitting Chinese theaters, online searches for one of its breakout characters — Gary the blue snake — turned into a surge in demand for the real species as pets.

A report published Monday by Shanghai-based outlet The Paper found that after the Disney movie’s Nov. 26 release, online sales of blue Indonesian pit vipers (Trimeresurus insularis) soared, with individual snakes selling for as much as 3,000 yuan ($420). 

The trend has already prompted warnings from lawyers and pushed some netizens to educate others about the risks of owning the highly venomous reptile whose bite is rarely fatal but can cause swelling, pain, and serious tissue damage without prompt treatment.

A search by The Paper on several e-commerce platforms using keywords such as “Blue Bamboo” and “Island Bamboo Pit Viper” — common Chinese names for the species — found numerous listings of blue snakes, with prices ranging from a few hundred to several thousand yuan.

One seller on the lifestyle app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, told The Paper that live vipers would be available after spring and could be shipped. The seller advised first-time buyers to prepare snake hooks, bite-proof gloves, and long tweezers, as the snake venom is highly dangerous. 

Another seller on the secondhand trading app Xianyu said demand and prices have risen since the film’s release, with current prices around 1,800 yuan, requiring a deposit to reserve a snake via video selection.

One snake owner shared their experience of watching the movie “Zootopia 2” and used a post on Xiaohongshu to explain Gary’s real-world counterpart, drawing more than 10,000 likes. One comment on the post read, “The power of a good film is remarkable. It’s genuinely changed how I view snakes, animals I used to fear and was biased against.”

The blue Indonesian pit viper is a non-native species not listed in China’s key protected wildlife catalogs or the invasive species management list, making online sales difficult to regulate. 

On Monday, inquiries to multiple platforms showed varying policies. Xiaohongshu and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, prohibit the sale of wildlife and toxic animals, with violations leading to account bans. Xianyu stated it bans protected animals but noted the blue Indonesian pit viper is not on that list. 

A check on Wednesday by Sixth Tone found that blue Indonesian pit viper listings had largely been removed from online retail platforms. 

Wu Fenghu, a lawyer at Beijing Jingsh Law Firm’s Shanghai Office, said postal regulations explicitly prohibit mailing live animals and toxic items, making the shipping of such venomous snakes illegal.

Wu said that the trend poses a significant public safety risk and exposes gaps in platform oversight, logistics, and regulation. He urged the public not to buy such highly venomous non-native snakes and to avoid illegal transactions.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: Visuals from VCG and The Paper.)