Today, we will talk about the national treasure-level poisonous snake species Xiaoqinglong, whose scientific name is Mangshan Ironhead Snake, which is a giant poisonous snake species unique to China. 从它发现之初至今，一直都是大陆国宝级的濒危蛇种，野生的数量非常之少，甚至比大熊猫还更稀缺珍贵！ 主要分布在中国湖南省的莽山一带，被世界自然保护联盟列入红色名录的“濒危”级物种。 It is also a national treasure of the continent snake.
Mangshan Iron Head Snake
Xiaoqinglong's discovery was discovered by a doctor named Chen Yuanhui, who was very good at healing snake venom, and had dealt with snakes since he was 19 years old, and was very famous in the local area, and was affectionately known as "Nine-fingered Snake Doctor" and "Snake Immortal" by locals. He once lost the middle finger of his left hand because of a snake bite, but all this did not stop his passion and love for snake research, and he studied the snakes of Mangshan without hesitation, so he became the first person in China to study Xiaoqinglong.
Chen Yuanhui (Dr. Snake)
At first, someone was bitten by a poisonous snake and came to find snake doctor Chen Yuanhui for treatment, and Chen Yuanhui preliminarily determined that he was bitten by a five-step snake, and the situation was not optimistic. 但是，在听到被咬的人叙述蛇的样子后，他便否认了五步蛇的说法。
Five-step snake
The bitten man said he had been bitten by a cyan snake as thick as a beer bottle. Also with a white tail.
The cyan snake, and the white tail, is it bamboo leaf green?
Trimeresurus
可是竹叶青没有白尾巴呀，那肯定不是竹叶青了。
What kind of snake is that? 陈远辉思索了一下，尽管陈远辉说常年和蛇打交道，但是，他还是没有见过这种青色白尾的怪蛇。 He asked local people about the situation and was willing to pay a high price for recycling.
If someone can find a cyan and white-tailed monster snake, they can get a few hundred yuan.
A few hundred dollars in the eighties is not a small amount!
Everyone wants to earn this money, and for a while, many snake catchers have arrived at Chen Yuanhui's work unit, and they let Chen Yuanhui see if he has been caught?
However, every time I look at it, I will be disappointed.
He was a little suspicious, did that kind of cyan and white-tailed strange snake not exist?
During his visit, he heard the legend of the "Little Green Dragon".
He also vaguely felt that the snake should be the legendary "Little Green Dragon"
Most of the people living in the area of Mangshan are Yao, and the ancestor of the Yao ethnic group is Nuwa, and Nuwa is a human head and snake body.
The Yao people all believe that they and "Xiaoqinglong" are brothers and sisters, and Nuwa made them.
They belong to their own kind, and the "Little Green Dragon" has a supreme position in their hearts.
Yao
But what kind of species is the "little green dragon"? They can't tell. According to legend, the saying told to them by their ancestors is that the "little green dragon" is a cyan snake, and only their generation has this snake.
However, most people have never seen this snake. Whether it exists or not, it is uncertain.
Now, Chen Yuanhui saw someone bitten by a cyan and white-tailed snake, and also heard the relevant legends, he believed that this snake definitely existed, but it was rare. Perhaps, this snake is still an undiscovered new species.
So he never gave up searching, searched for nearly five years, and finally found something.
The stock is 300-500, rarer than the giant panda, what is the concept of an endangered species
One night in 1989, Chen Yuanhui heard that a colleague had caught more than 20 poisonous snakes in the mountains, several of which were very rare, and they asked Chen Yuanhui to take a look. At first, Chen Yuanhui did not have any hope, but after arriving at the scene, he recognized the strange snake with a cyan and white tail at a glance. He had never seen this snake before, and he concluded that it was the snake he was looking for.
He spent $400 to buy the snake from a colleague, and he wanted to study it. Although it was two months' wages for him and his wife, buying the snake back meant that they were going to fight again. However, in Chen Yuanhui's opinion, it is all worth it.
He felt that this was a new species and that it was worth all the money. He was going to study the snake.
He visited many local people who knew snakes, and those old people said that this was the legendary "little green dragon". They have also seen this kind of snake, but it is not common.
This also further verified Chen Yuanhui's idea, and the discovery of "Little Green Dragon" made Chen Yuanhui even more excited.
If he obtains the most precious treasure, he must keep a snake well.
Chen Yuanhui
But after all, it is a poisonous snake, and raising a poisonous snake at home is a very dangerous thing, but it is not a joke, and this matter is naturally strongly opposed by Chen Yuanhui's wife and daughter.
You must know that raising poisonous snakes is too dangerous, snakes are cold-blooded animals, if they bite people, there will be life worries, and second, snake feces are very unpleasant, ordinary people can't stand it. But Chen Yuanhui still raised it, because he liked this snake very much.
His wife told him many times that when he was not paying attention, he would kill his poisonous snake.
In fact, his wife, who is also a knife-mouthed tofu heart, often helps him feed poisonous snakes together. They also raised it for a few months, and the small snake became the big snake. It is 2 meters long and as thick as a bowl.
He searched the literature on snakes and determined that there were no records of the snake.
He knew he had discovered a new species. However, what gave Chen Yuanhui a headache was that he was a person who treated snake wounds and was unknown.
If he said that he had discovered a new snake species, he would definitely be ridiculed as nonsense.
So what to do? So Chen Yuanhui sent his research report on the "little green dragon" to Zhao Ermi, an amphibian and reptile expert of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Group photo of Academician Zhao Ermi and Mr. Chen Yuanhui
When Zhao Ermi saw this snake, it was like discovering a rare treasure, he had seen snakes from different countries in the world, similar to snakes like "Little Green Dragon", he had also seen them. However, he is very sure that it is not a breed, because it is not so big.
After confirming that "Little Green Dragon" belongs to a type of iron-headed snake, which is definitely a new species, and finally, they named the snake "Mangshan Ironhead". The reason why it is called a soldering iron head is because the snake's head is triangular, just like a soldering iron, plus only Mangshan has it in the world, so it is called "Mangshan soldering iron head".
Then, in 1990, the two of them published a paper related to "Mangshan Soldering Iron Head", which shocked the world. Especially people in the animal kingdom know that a new species of venomous snake has been found in China, and this venomous snake is only found in China.
The Chinese who discovered this new species was called Chen Yuanhui, hence the name Chen Yuanhui.
Papers related to Mangshan soldering iron head
It is said that scarce is expensive, and finally after investigation, it was learned that the "Mangshan soldering iron head" has only 300-500 stocks in the world, which is more endangered than giant pandas.
In 1996, the snake was included in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List by Conservation International.
It is also a snake at the level of a national treasure of the mainland.
There are many animal lovers in the world who watch this snake, but this snake has no market.
Each "little green dragon" is worth $1 million
Chen Yuanhui only loved snakes in his life, and he regarded snakes as friends. His wife said Chen Yuanhui loved snakes more than himself.
Whenever he has time, he spends time with snakes, studies "them," raises "them," and lives with them. In his report, the snake was referred to as "he" rather than "it." It can be seen how obsessed he is with snakes. Now he knows that the "Mangshan Soldering Iron Head" is an endangered species, and the medicinal value of this snake is extremely high, if the protection measures are not taken in time, this snake will definitely be destroyed.
So what to do? So Chen Yuanhui decided to raise it in captivity, because this snake is difficult to keep, and he can't make the slightest mistake, he can't raise too much at once. Several are kept every year.
You may not know that in the 90s, a "mangshan iron snake" was worth more than $1 million.
If he sells a snake, he can become rich.
However, the house they live in is a bungalow in the mountains, or a dangerous house. His wife kept scolding him for not showing up, and the couple made some money, and he bought meat to feed the snakes. People are reluctant to eat meat, and they use meat to feed snakes every day, which is really a failure.
At that time, with money and sacks, there were many people who came to find Chen Yuanhui, both Chinese and foreigners. They all want to get a "mangshan soldering iron head" to go back. However, none of them managed to buy it. Because this snake is more precious to him than his life, he will raise the snake and then release it in Mangshan. Not for trading!
From the 90s to 2005, he raised more than 100 "Mangshan soldering iron heads". These are priceless snakes that can't be bought for $1 million. However, these snakes he raised, in the end, were all released by him to Mang Mountain.
Chen Yuanhui loves snakes, and his daughter and wife also accompany him to "go crazy". And the snakes they feed are already priceless in the twenty-first century.
Even if you can't buy it for tens of millions of yuan, and buying and selling this national treasure-level snake is an illegal and criminal act.
In recent years, Chen Yuanhui's daughter has taken over the heavy responsibility of her father, and she began to take over her father's care for all kinds of snakes in Mangshan, especially the "little green dragon".
It is believed that under the love and care of Chen Yuanhui and his daughter, the "Little Green Dragons" will be active in all corners of Mangshan. "Little Green Dragon" belongs only to Mang Mountain, and only exists in our country.
Chen Yuanhui's contributions and research on snakes have many more, so we won't say more. He is such a person, he is the real "snake king" and "snake doctor"!
This issue ends here, we'll see you in the next issue, pay attention to not get lost, I'm a humorous codeword person, thank you for watching!