CANBERRA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) have reminded residents that they could face harsh penalties if they kill snakes found on their property.

Under the NT Parks and Conservation Act, snake killers can be hit with a 60,400 U.S. dollars fine and can face up to five years imprisonment.

The law exists to protect snakes that are endangered from being killed by the public despite likely posing no threat.

Exemptions exist where a snake poses an imminent threat to a person or a pet and can be applied if a snake is within 100 meters of an occupied property but residents on large rural properties are vulnerable to the heavy penalties.

Tom Parkin, a snake catcher in the NT, said that people who do choose to kill a snake put themselves at risk of a harsher penalty than a prison sentence, that of death or serious illness.

"Statistically speaking, the vast majority of people bitten by snakes in Australia are attempting to catch or kill the snake at the same time," Parkin told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday.

"A snake will never go out of its way to try and attack a person without a reason."

He said that in most cases people opted to kill the snake before identifying if it posed a threat.

"I think the first thing that people will think of when they come across a snake is chop its head off and work out what it is later," Parkin said.

"We see it a lot, but it's often unnecessary because the snake is harmless and it's also a very dangerous practice."