Demand for snakeskin fashion items threatens wild snake populations

Celebrities are leading the craze for snakeskin accessories – to the fury of campaigners, who claim that reptiles are being skinned alive to supply the fashion industry. Style never stands still, and this season the super-rich have a new
fixation: snakeskin. Although neither snake is on any official endangered-species list, animal campaigners are outraged that exotic skins are making a comeback. Reptile experts warn that fashion houses are threatening the future of many species. Clifford Warwick, reptile biologist at the Animal Protection Agency, said: "It is an almost entirely unregulated trade where species are pushed to the brink. Only about 10 per cent of reptiles for the skin trade come from any captive source at all." Mr Warwick said snakes caught in the wild are nailed to a tree and skinned alive, taking days to die.