Biologist urges South African leaders to don synthetic fur

Members of South Africa's largest and most prominent church are being asked to compromise tradition and trade in real fur pelts for synthetic, machine-washable versions, The Independent reported.

Conservation biologist Tristan Dickerson is trying to convince the area's most well-known Zulu leaders to encourage followers of their flock - the Nazareth Baptist Church - to abandon use of real leopard fur.

The group, also know as Shembe, has 5.6 million members - and if Dickerson succeeds in pushing fake pelts, the declining population of the endangered animals could be halted.

But are the knockoffs any good?

Dickerson is out to prove they are - and that they're cheaper.

"I have used digital photography and imaging to produce and exact synthetic replica of a leopard-skin stole with all the dots in the right place," he said to The Independent. "It will be machine-washable and will be sold for 500 rand (about $60), which is makes it far cheaper than the R3,000 Shembe followers spend on the real thing."

Zulus consider the leopard an object of power and strength, and the use of real fur, especially for special ceremonies, could be hard to break.

Still, members of the Nazareth Baptist Church understand the issue of conservation.

"We are aware that we cannot keep killing this animal, and yet we cannot stop using leopard skins," congregartion spokesman Mkululeko Mthathwe said. "[The synthetic fur] seems to be a good solution. Our church has grown phenomenally and it is true that nature cannot keep up with the demand from our followers."

Dickerson will meet on Friday with representatives of the church to finalize a deal that would also produce jobs in South Africa's textile industry.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...ticle-1.975331