UK Only Article:
standard article
Issue:
The war within
Fly Title:
Crocodile farming
Location:
SINGAPORE
Main image:
20160514_WBP002_0.jpg
Rubric:
Why breeding the brutes may help their wild brethren
SOME 30,000 crocodiles bask at Izintaba, a farm sprawled across 100 acres near the South African city of Pretoria. Sold to tanners for bags, belts and watch straps, the best croc skins can fetch more than $600. The job requires long hours but is not particularly dangerous, says Pit Süssmann, its manager. He worries more about armed thieves, who sometimes come prowling for cars and equipment.
Business is good for farmers of crocodilians, who will gather this month with conservationists and other boffins at a biennial powwow not far from Mr Süssmann’s farm. Worldwide exports of croc skins jumped by about 30% to 1.8m in 2013, the last year for which data are readily available (see chart).
That is partly owing to increasing ...
↧