Zoobot (ZOO-bot) - derived by Mr. E through a contraction of zoology (the study of animals) and botany (the study of plants). I'm sure I will occasionally stray from the path and discuss something interesting in the kindoms of archea (sea-vent bacteria), monera (other bacteria), protists (quasi animal plant-like one cell life, or fungi (think mushrooms). Zoobot. It just sounds cool.
Monday, November 30, 2009
BAD ECONOMY GOOD FOR GATORS
"Crocodile rockin' is something shocking, and your feet just can't keep still..." Elton John
Especially in those Crocs, made of real Croc. Get 'em while you can.
The New York Times reported that the downturn in the economy has had an unanticipated consequence on alligator farming. Sales of products that use alligator skin are down. Fashionistas who may have spend upwards of $12,000 on an alligator skin wristwatch strap in the past, are now hesitating. Times are tough all over I guess.
Alligator farming is tightly regulated by the US department of Wildlife to maintain a wild population of one to two million. Farmers must raise the alligators from birth, meaning that eggs have to be taken (stolen) from angry gator mommas in swampy areas who are fought off with long poles. The babies are expensive to raise, and as they get larger they frequently bite each other. Bites make their skin relatively worthless ("Yes madam, that is a scar on that handbag - hmm... perhaps I can let that one go for less, say, $5,000?"). Few make it past four feet in length before they are slaughtered.
Men enter the tanks and kill the gators with a quick, sharp stab through the head into the brain. The alligators are skinned, their meat is sent to restaurants and pet food manufacturers. For years, their skins were sent to one of about a dozen tanneries around the world that specialized in processing the leather of reptile "exotics" for fashion houses such as Hermes, Cartier, and of course, Gucci.
During the past decade, the fashion house Hermes has been buying many of the exotic tanneries. Hermes has fought for lower prices for the skin from farmers - often at prices below the cost of raising the alligators. At the same time, they have raised the market prices of tanned hides to ridiculously high levels. That "buy cheap, sell high" business strategy, in combination with the economic recession, has created a crash in the market for alligator goods. As one buyer for Neiman Marcus, the high end department store, is quoted as saying: "‘I’m not going to spend $4,000 for an alligator shoe.’ (Gee, and I thought I was the only one who thought such a thing.)
High prices, and the economic recession, have caused sales of alligator skin fashion accessories to fall dramatically. That's good for the gators, but not for the small farmers who raise them. Despite recent signs of an economic upturn, many alligator farms are closing do to losses of upwards of $15,000 a month. One farmer is opening up a tourist zoo along the highway. Others are leaving the industry altogether. It's hard to continue working on a farm that loses money while growing a crop that can bite your arm off.
I'm sure many of us wandered the dinosaur halls of the American Museum of Natural History thinking about how cool it would be if Jurassic Park were a reality. To be able to see the living, breathing bodies that brought movement to those fossilized bones we observed with wide eyes and slackened jaws. After reading this article, however I'm glad the big guys went extinct. It's both sad and demeaning to think how they too, would have wound up as fashion accessories.
"A T-Rex handbag, madame? Or perhaps I can interest the gentleman in a matched set of Stegosaurus luggage?"
We've had benefit concerts for farmers called "Farm Aid". Maybe its time for a benefit concert to help preserve the alligator population. We'll call it (pinky to mouth) - - - - Gator Aid.
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9 comments:
As a follower to fashion, I have flipped through countless magazines such as Harpers Bazar, Vogue, Elle, and the more sideling recounts of fashion. I have seen the runway shows in picture, the shoes, bags, coast, dresses, pantsuits, and alligator boots. I do not feel partial to this statement. I am not against it, I just do not like it, and feel that sometimes this is a look that must be restricted. In some shoots, or collections it works in minuet detail, but it has been a long standing statement and symbol for regions of the country (I associate it with the South anyways) and will most likely continue to do so for years to come.
However this is not to say that there are not those who feel strongly enough to stand out side Bryant Park come fashion week and through cups of red paint, hold signs and chant things such as “Fur is Murder”. This also applies to the reptiles strutting (or being strutted) down the runway.
It is all in the designer, budget, and want. Alligator has never really taken a turn downwards and is a common enough sight. Perhaps on the Upper East Side its confined more to the jewelry cases and occasional rack of Oscar DeLarena sunglasses or Prada watch. It is what it is but it is sad to see so many little ‘gators walking down the street on someone else’s body.
http://www.gatorland.com/
For good times with Gators
(Katie Bishop actually sat on a Gator intentionally while she visited- I have a picture!)
Caileigh Bryant
Well, unlike Caileigh, I am not a follower to fashion. I throw on a pair of jeans and a concert tee before topping it off with a flannel or hoodie. I could care less about how well my colors match and care even less about whether people consider my dress polite or acceptable. This is why I am all for the decline in alligator product sales. Hey, you may not like alligators, but they're animals, and as such, are important parts of their ecosystems. We don't really have to deal with them since we live in NH, so why not shout "VICTORY" when alligator farms start closing? Listen: fashonistas may love wearing skin-tight skin for clothes, but I say "save the animals!" unless you're gonna eat them.
P.S.: pet food doesn't count.
--Tyler
i most likely have seen alligator handbags and pants, thinking they were fake i gave no thought to it. however i did know that alligator farming was fact. and i cannot say that i feel bad for the people farming these creatures, when the economy is causing them to not get top price for the gator skins. i could never support this act. i thought there were laws against it by now. however there are many alligators, i suppose i shouldn't be so surprised when they are still killing alligators for their skin. i didn't think they would go so low to steal the eggs for a nest though. and then killing them in such a brutal way? it is disgusting and i cannot believe anyone would be willing to do this, even for a high profit.
i hope that this will soon come to an end. i probably come across as a crazy animal lover, and i guess thats true. i don't think any animal should be killed for its skin. and its good that they are sending the meat to resturants to be eaten. but it does not justify what they are doing. many species are endangered or already extinct because of humans hunting and killing them for their valuable skins and furs. even animals that are illegal to hunt are getting killed by poachers.
~~Keely
I have to say, I've noticed a theme of "conservation" in your blogs, Mr Engler.
I need more evidence, honestly. How many are used for fashion? And percentage, preferably. We see this horrific photo, that is wonce yourealize it is a bunch of gator hides and am immediately impacted emotionally. IT draws at our senses making youwant to do something. Well, the photographer did it.
First of all, Florida is not the problem, only harvesting 60,000. This compared to the 300,000 of Louisiana. I appreciate the effort made towards conservation as farmers grow their own alligators rather than harvest the wild. This is a better step esp at such a command.
http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2006/03/27/reptile-chic-uf-wildlife-ecologist-says-florida-alligator-farmers-cashing-in-on-fashion-trend/
We simply can't stop the fashion. We have a huge population in the world, all needing to be clothed. And it has been Human's way of dressing to use animal skins such as the alligator. Did a caveman not wear some sort of fur? Or the Native Americans not fashion themselves with reptiles and turtles. Its when it becomes a necessity, which todayis not the case. Rising prices are excellent. Only the rich would buy them and they are the ones in demand of them. There are simply not enough rich people to have a great demand of alligator skin that is alarming, making us worry about an alligator population.
I don't think alligator rescuing should be a priority. There are far worse things to worry about. Esp. since they are harvested more than hunted.
Rebecca Page
You know a lot of people i talk to where i live are apposed to hunting in any shape or form. Im guessing that's the case everywhere. I think people are against hunting because they feel sorry for the animal and they think its cruel to kill something that has no chance of fighting back. Yet this story is shocking because so many people are buying apparel made from the skin of animals. How would people not feel sorry for them then. Is it because of how stylish it look or how good it feels? Then why would people be apposed to hunting when hunters eat what they kill? Its food....its for good use. Just buying stuff by the hundreds just because it looks good and its "in" is different from eating something thats healthy and good tasting. Plus hunting animals is controlled. Buying skins from endangered species because they look stylish is not being controlled. It for that reason why animals are going extinct.
And im with you Tyler. Im not a big fashion person flipping through pages of magazines, stuffed to rim of stylish apparel. Its just not what i do on my spare time.
HA, puny, very very puny.
But ya know, i really dont see the point. why do people spend so much money to buy a something that people look down on them for wearing? I mean it's obviously not because it looks really good. Also it's like paying more for a kind of food that comes from the same place, and tastes the same as a less expensive food, just because of the brand. I mean, i know these ideas have been shared before, and are probally being shared by other bloggers right now, but it really just boggles my mind. What is the point? If people like the look of alligator (and for that matter, any skin) so much that they're willing to pay thousands of dollars for it, they should use their bad sense of fashion to help them pick out a faux alligator product.
Has our society really gotten to a point where we will pay thousands of dollars, and sacrifice a living animal, all in the persute of having the knowledge that we are truely wearing real alligator skin rather than something that only looks like alligator skin?
Correct me if im wrong, but i thought the purpose of fashion was to create something that both looked a certain way and functioned in a certain way. Faux alligator skin both looks and funtions like regular alligator skin, so why not use that instead?
I'de would be lying if i said that I only wear what I want, and don't care at all what other people think of me, so in a way, yes it is wrong of me to judge peope who want tot wear real skin rather than fake skin because peopel might not think as highly of them. But them difference between myself and those people comes when I dry the line at the slaughter of animals for superficial value. not to mention the coast. I wouldn't spend that much money on a shoe if it were my gate way into heaven.
And though this is also very wrongl of me to say (because i have never had money to blow and also because if i did, im sure i wouldn't think of others as much as i should) but don't they feel bad spending that much money on a wristband when people are going without food, medicine, and shelter. It just dont understand that whole concept of skins for the purpose of fashion.
So pritty much the alligator farming and sales have becomre just like fast food and other chans. Someone gets a big monoply and the smaller (local) ones get pushed to the side.
The world will sift just like it did when the dinosours went exsitnt. We don't need to help by farming them to death. We need to find a balence.
Gabriella
Er...ok...I'm not sure of the point you are trying to make. Anyway, it's probably good that we're in a recession because maybe people will stop spending money on things they don't really need, like alligator shoes. I think fashion's pretty neet, but really who needs 20 million pairs of shoes and 10 thousand hand bags. We buy SO many things we don't really need and sure it's terrible that we kill animals for some of it, but that doesn't mean the rest of it comes out of thin air.
What I'm trying to say, sort of, is that we've lost touch with our roots. The way back when, when having 4 dresses would be considered a lot. Oh how quickly times change. Shopping is now a hobby. No wonder people can't afford morgages and credit card bills.
Sorry I sort of strayed from the original post, but I think this reduction of alligator sales is not a terrible thing, and it wouldn't be so bad if the recession went on a little longer.
I suppose the knee jerk response is the “oh those poor animals” but in the real world animal farming is a valuable industry that humanity has practices since the dawn of agricultural life. While I deplore inhumane treatment of animals, I also recognize the fact, as a realist, that the killing of in this case alligators will continue until there is no longer a market. As a side note during my research into Spectacled Caimans, I discovered an interesting fact: Caiman skin is often passed off as alligator skin, as the Caiman is far more common. Unfortunately these animals come from the wild, and are far less renewable than alligators on a farm.
-chris
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