Can Fake Furs Help Protect Leopards? | National Geographic

We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people all gathering in one place, and it's the most amazing spectacle you could see. But you can't ignore the fact that there are thousands of labor. The use and trade of leopard skins is something new for us. From a conservation aspect, we all focus in on hunting, illegal persecution, and prey depletion.

Then all of a sudden, we started seeing, "Hang on, there's a few of these leopards that have been targeted." Where they gain the state of African leopards is that they decrease them. We know that they've already lost over 30 percent of the historical home range, and where they do occur, they had lower densities than there were historically. Also, in rural areas that we're looking at, we've seen that the numbers are being reduced. This is all because they're the most persecuted big cat species in the world.

So this whole program started by me at any one of these champey festivals. It was a very small and outside event, up in the profit guy's music. But I walked in, and the first thing I noticed was two hundred dancers wearing leopard skins. The second one I went to, I counted over a thousand applicants, and then I realized every time I go back, there's more and more.

That's why Pantera's first program was established. Now we are working hard in China; we work with the church to come up with these solutions. Culture and tradition and conservation can work hand in hand, and with the Pantherophis for Life program, we prove it. The slogan is "Concerned in the Future."

We're talking about conserving wildlife whilst conserving culture and tradition. The future for labor conservation is in us making a difference now. Right now they're not endangered; they're not threatened. But if we don't start conserving them now, they're gonna land up like tigers and lions. Witness the light—so we're gonna say, "We should have done something."

If all of these aspects that we're looking at start working, then in 100 years' time, there will be leopards for children to see. When people who love animals so much start realizing they're impacting on it, we have a chance. And that's why we have the opportunity to be successful in those projects. So we've been doing something now.