Python is threatened by the problem of leather export

Scientists warn pythons in Southeast Asia are at risk of extinction because they are killed for processing leather for export to Europe.

Products made from python skin - (Photo: traffic.org)

The above warning was given by the International Trade Center (ITC) in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in a report published at the end of November 2012 entitled 'Trading trade in python skin in Southeast Asia '.

According to the report, about half a million python skin in the form of products are exported annually from Southeast Asia (most in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam) to European Union countries (mainly Italy, Germany). and France).

Python is killed for skin in Indonesia,
Malaysia and Vietnam - (Photo: BBC)

Cruel python killing scene at a slaughter facility in Vietnam - (Photo: traffic.org)

The report revealed that these python skin trades yielded about $ 1 billion a year. In a village in Indonesia, a 3m python is sold for $ 30, but the same python in France or Italy can be turned into a handbag worth 500 times, or $ 15,000.

It is difficult for commercial managers to identify the origin of legal or illegal python products, according to the report.

According to the provisions of the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), pythons living in captivity will be allowed to kill the skin, but the investigation shows a large number of pythons in captivity caught in the wild.

'The illegal trafficking of python skin will seriously threaten python species' , said Alexander Kasterine, head of ITC's commercial and environmental programs.