Scientists say eating snakes, rather than cows, pigs and chickens, is better for the environment.

They visited python farms in Thailand and Vietnam and found that slithery snakes can be raised for meat a lot more efficiently than other livestock.

They require far less feeding than pigs and cows, and they can also be fed on waste meat.

Daniel Natusch, from the research firm EPIC Biodiversity, has eaten them barbecued and in curries. He said: “Pythons can live for almost a month with no water… almost a year without eating.”

He said we need to have a conversation about adding them to our menu.