Crocodile skin facts for kids
Crocodile skin is the skin from a live crocodile or a special type of leather made from a dead crocodile's hide. It's used to make many fancy items like bags, shoes, and furniture. This skin comes from crocodiles raised on special farms and treated in factories called tanneries.
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What is Crocodile Leather?
Crocodile leather is made from the treated skin of one of the 23 types of crocodiles found around the world. It's known as an exotic leather. Exotic leathers make up less than 1% of all leather produced globally.
This type of leather is quite rare compared to common leathers like sheep or cowhide. It also needs a lot of skill to prepare it for use. Crocodile leather is seen as a luxury item. Big fashion brands like Hermes and Gucci use it for their expensive products. It's rare and costly because there aren't many crocodiles, they aren't huge, and there are only a few reliable farms and tanneries that can prepare the skin.
What is Crocodile Skin Used For?
Crocodile skin is mostly used for fancy handbags and other luxury items. These include shoes, belts, wallets, and even furniture coverings. The best skins come from Freshwater, Saltwater, Nile, and Caiman crocodiles. Their skins look great after being treated.
Not all crocodile skins are equally valuable. The Australian Saltwater Crocodile is famous for having the best quality skin. This makes it more popular than the smaller Caiman skins, which are cheaper because Caiman crocodiles are more common. The value of a skin also depends on what it will be used for. Freshwater Crocodile skin, especially from New Guinea, is very flexible. This means it can be made thin enough for clothing. Nile crocodile skin, found mostly in Africa, is very strong. This makes it good for tough items like shoes and belts.
How are Crocodiles Farmed?
Crocodiles are either raised on farms or caught in the wild. In places like Northern and Western Australia, crocodile farms collect eggs from the wild. Landowners sell these eggs to local farms to hatch and raise. This method became legal in Queensland in 2018.
On a crocodile farm, crocodiles are grown until they are ready. Then, their skin is carefully removed, treated, and sent to tanneries. These tanneries prepare the skin for making commercial products.
Here's how crocodile farming usually works:
- Ranching - This means collecting eggs from wild crocodile nests. This usually happens in February and March.
- Hatching - The collected eggs are kept in special incubators. This protects them and helps ensure most of them hatch.
- Growth - Crocodiles are grown to specific sizes. The size depends on what the skin will be used for. For example, a crocodile about 1.5 years old (or 1.2 meters long) usually provides a 40 cm belly skin, which is good for most bags. If small handbags are popular, farms might harvest crocodiles earlier for smaller skins.
- Stunning - The crocodile is gently stunned with a rod, and its eyes are covered to keep it calm.
- Slaughter - A humane method is used to sever the spinal cord.
- Disinfection - The skin is disinfected following food safety rules.
- Chilling - The crocodile is placed in a cold room to cool down and bleed. This often happens overnight.
- Skinning - The skin is carefully removed from the crocodile.
- Meat Processing - The meat is taken off and packaged according to food safety rules.
- Skin Processing - The removed skin is preserved for short or long periods. It's also graded, measured, and stored until it's ready to be sent out.
The main income for crocodile farms comes from selling skins to the fashion industry. So, it's very important that the skin is of high quality to get the best price. Keeping the skin preserved is key, as its quality drops quickly in warm places where farms are often located.
Value and Quality of Crocodile Skin
The skin is the most valuable part of a crocodile. The meat and other parts like teeth are also sold, but for less money. The value of a skin is decided by its size and its grade (how perfect it is). A wider skin is worth more. Its width is measured across the third raised scale, called a scute.
The grade is based on how much damage the skin has. For every level of damage, the value drops by 25%. This means the skin's value can fall a lot if it's not handled carefully. For example, a perfect 40 cm skin might cost $360. But if it has flaws, its value decreases. This is why crocodile farmers take extra steps, like covering enclosure corners with plastic, to keep their crocodiles in good condition. They also put crocodiles in smaller groups to prevent fights and the spread of infections, which can cause scars and damage the skin.
The value of a skin also depends on how much famous fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Hermes want it. The best skins are usually sent to countries like France, Italy, and the USA. Here, top tanneries treat the skins exactly how designers want them. Then, they are made into items like bags, shoes, and other accessories. In Australia, some businesses make custom products and use smaller pieces and leftover parts of the skin to avoid waste.
Skin quality can be improved while the crocodile is alive, but after it's harvested, the quality can only be maintained or reduced. After harvesting, the skin can easily get damaged by germs. This can cause problems like scales slipping, staining, or discoloration. For short-term preservation (up to five days), a 60% salt solution is used. For longer preservation (up to four months), a special chemical is needed. Skins are kept in sealed individual bags to protect them and prevent creases. Farmers and tanners use specific ways of folding or rolling skins to avoid wrinkles across the scales.
There are two main ways crocodile skin is cut:
- Back Cut - This cut has a rough, scaly texture. It's mainly used for smaller decorative parts or trimmings.
- Belly Cut - This is a very popular cut. It has a smooth texture and small, close scales. This makes it flexible and great for many items like handbags and clothing.
The widest part of the belly is measured to figure out the hide's value. When designers buy crocodile leather, they need to remember that the measurements are for the whole hide, not just a pattern size. Because of this, it can take several skins to make just one item.
After Farming and Production
Programs were set up in the 1960s and 1970s in America and Zimbabwe to help crocodile populations grow. Papua New Guinea also started similar programs. These programs made trading crocodile skin possible and profitable. They stopped too much hunting and prevented crocodile numbers from dropping. Keeping these farms going often relies on countries that produce skins to send them elsewhere for tanning and making products.
Sometimes, it's hard to tell if a skin was preserved well until after it's been treated. If it wasn't, the finished leather might look dull, discolored, or scuffed, which lowers its value.
Australian Saltwater Crocodile skin is highly desired because it's flexible, making it excellent for handbags. The bonier skins of Caiman crocodiles are harder to dye and work with, so they are less popular. For items like bags, suits, or pants, large pieces of skin are needed. Since large areas of leather will be visible, any damage would be obvious. This is why so much care is taken to produce high-quality skins from crocodile farms. Smaller bags need skins that are 30 to 34 cm wide. Larger bags need skins that are 40 to 50 cm wide. Manufacturers try to use as much of the hide as possible to avoid waste. Scraps are used for straps, side panels, and inside details. Designers often mark the skin with sewing lines using a special tool to thin the leather where stitches will go. This helps prevent needles from breaking if they hit hard calcium spots.
It takes about two days for a skilled craftsperson to make a crocodile skin handbag. The time can change depending on how the leather is treated. Some treatments make the leather stiffer and more likely to crack. This means a longer, more complex process is needed because the leather can't be turned inside out in the usual way.
Rules and Laws
The trade of crocodile skin has many laws because it's important that the leather comes from farms where crocodiles are treated humanely. Uncontrolled hunting in the past caused many crocodile populations to shrink. Because of this, governments have put protections on many reptiles.
CITES is an international agreement between 164 countries. It was started in 1973 and stands for "Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora." Its goal is to protect endangered species from disappearing. Legally imported crocodile skin must come from trusted farms with a CITES certificate. This certificate proves that the skin was obtained legally. Any skins without this certificate can be taken by customs officials. Selling a skin that was inherited (from before CITES existed) or illegally imported is a crime.
Laws about crocodile trade are different around the world. In America, it's legal to import crocodile leather if it's sourced in a way that doesn't harm crocodile populations and follows CITES rules. However, trading crocodile leather from Freshwater Siamese Crocodiles with Thailand, Vietnam, or Cambodia is forbidden, even with a CITES certificate. Sometimes, illegal trade happens because buyers don't know all the rules. So, businesses buying crocodile hide must always be sure where the skin came from.
Crocodile Trade and Conservation
Crocodile leather trade became popular in the 1800s in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Since then, the demand for skins has grown. Hunting and production spread to Africa, Asia, and Australia. Today, most crocodile skins are sourced in a way that helps maintain crocodile populations.
In Australia's Northern Territory, crocodile farms bring in about $107 million each year. This is a very important source of income for communities that don't have many other industries. Crocodile farming also provides jobs (264 jobs in 2017) and helps local and Indigenous people work together by collecting eggs and raising crocodiles.
Crocodile farming isn't just about producing skins for fashion. Tourism and breeding on farms also help keep the farms going. They also teach people about the role of crocodile farming in certain communities. In the Northern Territory, tourists can visit places like Crocodylus Park to learn about crocodiles and the trade.
Protecting Crocodiles
The crocodile trade is very important in some societies. From 1945 to 1971, people in Northern Australia earned a lot of money from crocodiles. But this uncontrolled trade severely harmed the populations of both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles. To help the Australian Saltwater Crocodile recover, it was fully protected in 1971.
When crocodile numbers grew, living alongside them became a problem for local people. There were reports of attacks on people and fishing boats in 1979-1980. To solve this, the Northern Territory started a plan called 'incentive-driven conservation strategy'. This plan encouraged people to protect crocodiles through business activities like farming, tourism, and collecting eggs from the wild. Saltwater Crocodiles are now seen as a valuable resource by communities. They create wealth and jobs through the crocodile industry. This also helps protect crocodiles, which would be harder to do because they are predators.
Brands that use crocodile skins are encouraged to support efforts to protect crocodiles. An Australian brand called Croc Stock and Barra uses unwanted parts of the skin to make luxury items. This helps reduce waste. Other brands, like Roje Exotics American Leathers, say they use leather that is a leftover product from the international exotic food industry. This also helps ensure less skin is wasted.
Animal Care
The Management Program in the Northern Territory makes sure that crocodiles are farmed in a humane way. It checks farming limits and crocodile population numbers. This helps ensure that the number of Saltwater Crocodiles stays healthy and never drops as low as it did in 1972.
