Like the Taliban or ISIS, militant animal rights activists tend to take things too far, and invariably suffer from image problems. Consider the examples of this lady who tried to hire a hit man on Facebook to kill someone for wearing a fur coat, or this group that barged into a crowded supermarket to hold a funeral for a frozen chicken.
Tristan Dickerson, a South African zoologist, seeks to take a more balanced approach to his chosen cause. He notes that the Zulu community – which numbers over five million people – traditionally wear leopard skins during religious ceremonies. As an alternative he has launched the ‘Panthera Furs For Life’ project, which encourages Zulus to wear synthetic leopard skins instead, as a way to help conserve the big cat’s dwindling population. We shall watch closely to see whether South African motorcycle gangs can be persuaded to start wearing ‘pleather’ jackets and boots.
