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A family in the central province of Thanh Hoa has been fined VND3 million ($132) for violating wildlife regulations after a video of their baby boy riding a five-meter pet python in flood water went viral online.
The video was posted on social media last Saturday showing a giggling toddler straddling an enormous python as adults in the family were heard encouraging him to sit tight or lie down on the reptile.
The python was moving slowly in flood water in what appears to be the family’s front yard. Thanh Hoa was caught in the path of a destructive tropical depression last week.
Many foreign news website have picked up on the footage and described it as “shocking”.
Authorities have thus far only dealt with the wildlife protection angle. They said the python weighs around 50 kilograms (110 pounds) and is more than five meters (16 feet) long.
The family found it in a field and had been raising it for two years. They have just sold the python this week for fear that it would become sick after spending too much time in the flood water.
