Using artificial leopard fur to save the lives of real leopards
March 7, 2024 9:49 PM Subscribe
Program providing artificial leopard furs for religious/cultural use to save the life of real leopards. After discovering that Shembe followers were using as many as 15,000 leopard furs during religious gatherings, Panthera, in partnership with the leadership of the Shembe Church, initiated the Furs for Life program in 2013.
Working with the Shembe community and graphic designers, Panthera created high-quality and affordable synthetic leopard fur capes, known as Heritage Furs or amambatha.
Supported by Cartier for Nature Philanthropy, the Royal Commission for AlUla, and Peace Parks Foundation, the program has distributed more than 18,500 capes to the Shembe Church, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in authentic leopard fur use.
Heritage Furs have thus prevented thousands of leopard deaths and have even resulted in some wild leopard populations stabilizing or increasing in the region, all while promoting a culturally sensitive conservation solution supported by Shembe leaders.
Zumbador, thanks for that interesting additional info. I hope this helps reduce the depredation of these beautiful animals. I think their fur looks best on them.
(friends did a safari in Namibia, and their guide told them that of all the animals in that part of Africa, he most feared the Leopard. I thought that was interesting. there are lots of much bigger animals, but I guess they are particularly fierce and feared hunters. go kitty!)
posted by supermedusa at 9:49 AM on March 9 [1 favorite]
(friends did a safari in Namibia, and their guide told them that of all the animals in that part of Africa, he most feared the Leopard. I thought that was interesting. there are lots of much bigger animals, but I guess they are particularly fierce and feared hunters. go kitty!)
posted by supermedusa at 9:49 AM on March 9 [1 favorite]
Supermedusa, I read an interview with a man who had an encounter with a leopard here in Cape Town.
He said it was "like fighting with a blender."
posted by Zumbador at 11:54 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]
He said it was "like fighting with a blender."
posted by Zumbador at 11:54 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]
wow!
posted by supermedusa at 10:32 AM on March 10
posted by supermedusa at 10:32 AM on March 10
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From the article, it seems that the organisation worked with the community and got their input, so crucial for this kind of initiative.
Traditional culture /medicine /religion often clashes with the rights of animals, plants, and the environment, and it can be tricky to honour (often oppressed and marginalised) people's cultures while also protecting animals and plants.
The amazingly badly named Herbal Market in Durban, (its the Muti Market, actually) is a horrifying place to visit if you don't know to expect to see rows of dead owls and other raptors, body parts of monkeys and porcupines, all kinds of animal furs.
I can see how people could be persuaded to use faux fur for religious ceremonies, but I don't know how you'd get people not to use endangered animal parts for muti.
The most successful initiative I've seen are people who paint the trunks of trees, preventing them from being ring-barked by those stripping the bark for muti. Bark with paint on it isn't useful, apparently.
Criminalising the trade doesn't seem to have worked at all.
(Muti is traditional medicine with a strong aspect of magic. Similar to voodoo in some ways)
posted by Zumbador at 12:37 AM on March 8 [5 favorites]