Alligators don't need to hide

March 15, 2000

Save the alligator by buying handbags or shoes made from alligator skin! The fashion industry has been slow to use alligator goods even though the toothy amphibian is no longer on the Endangered Species list. The reason? Commercial farming. Profits to be made from alligator products have ensured the husbanding of alligators as a valuable resource, much like chickens or cows. Farmers release 17 percent of their stock into the wild, helping boost the population of alligators to nearly 1.5 million in Louisiana "Creating economic incentives creates interest in preserving alligators," explains Perran Ross of International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Source: The American News Service

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