HONG KONG: A zoo in northern China will ensure that live puppies are no longer fed to its pythons after a video of feeding time set off a backlash online.

The footage taken at the Riverside Zoo in Pingdingshan, Henan province, shows a puppy sitting in a room near a snake in a box.

Photographs also show another python with several bulges wrapped around another puppy, apparently dead.

A zoo employee confirmed that puppies were fed to snakes at the park but it was not official policy, the Beijing Morning Post reported on Friday, told NST.

The staff member said a contract worker at the park was responsible for feeding.

“We have spoken to the person and instructed him to stop such actions,” the employee was quoted as saying.