Snapping up your handbags
Regardless of how hard it is to understand as to why people will still want animal skin for clothes and accessories, it is still a multi-billion dollar industry. While travelling Australia, I was surprised to see so many stores that sold animal skins, so unashamed. Where I am from, the general opinion is that it is a bit of a taboo. Crocodile skin bags and belts, kangaroo strips of fur, not even a coat, just a strip of fur like a carpet sample etc.
The estuarine crocodile (also known as the saltwater crocodile), is farmed on large scale in Australia for skin. To begin the farm's stock wild specimens were collected and bred overtime to create a captive bred population. Once the young crocodiles have reached a desired length they are killed and skinned to be sold to make into clothes and accessories. Also occasionally wild specimens will be captured because they are deemed a threat to the local people.
Many people will be against this idea but the workers will defend their position by saying that they are protecting the wild populations, because they are farming captive bred specimens so that wild animals aren't being hunted. Estuarine crocodiles were hunted to near extinction, with the population reducing by 95% in the 70's, and the argument is that this will not happen again if the industry is regulated by using captive bred animals. Also that this will protect people as the crocodiles are 'encroaching on their land' and posing a threat
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I personally do not agree with that sort of language being used in that way with animals. 'Encroaching on our land' and 'crocodile infested water'. Correct me if I am somehow wrong, but I believe the land belongs to them due to the fact that they live there and have lived there many years before people. There is of course no guarantee that every crocodile in a farm is captive bred, wild captures still happen. There is also plenty of controversy surrounding the conditions of the farms, over crowding and spread of disease. Which of course is not an appropriate living condition for any creature.
Should the farms be closed to make a stand against the industry, or does it actually protect the wild populations?

















