Several tourists from Beijing freed thousands of snakes in Xingling County in north China's Hebei Province on Friday, causing a panic among the villagers as dozens began capturing the reptiles, Beijing Times reports.

The undated photo shows villagers in Xingling Country in north China's Hebei Province burying dead snakes freed by tourists from Beijing. [Photo / Beijing Times]

The villagers said they saw thousands of snakes on a hillside, which had been set free by more than 10 people on June 1.

The village's Party chief surnamed Li said the residents were capturing the snakes because they did not know if they were venomous, and the area where the reptiles were set free was very close to homes.

Villagers also were concerned that the large number of snakes would upset the balance of nature in the area if the snakes caught and ate other animals such as frogs.

A senior officer surnamed Liu from the Xinglong County Forestry Police Bureau said it was inappropriate for tourists to set free such a large number of snakes into the wild on their own without approval.

After the villagers complained, the tourists paid 40,000 yuan (US$6,300) to compensate them for spending their work hours capturing the snakes.

Officers from forestry police bureau said they had examined some of the dead snakes to determine whether they were venomous and would notify villagers as soon as possible.

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