Snow leopard fur

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Snow leopard fur

Snow leopard skins were an even less important item in the tobacco trade than skins of other big cats , if only because of their low occurrence. While they were initially only used as fur blankets , rugs and wall hangings , in addition to being used in the area of ​​origin, they were also used for a short time in modern fur fashion for women's clothing.

The habitat of the snow leopard , also called Irbis , is Central Asia, from East Turkestan to Kashmir and Sikkim , from the Altai and Pamir Mountains to East Tibet , at altitudes of up to over 4000 meters.

The durability coefficient for clothing made from snow leopard fur was given as 50 to 60 percent.

According to the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species of March 3, 1973, the snow leopard is one of the animal species threatened with total extinction and is therefore listed as absolutely protected in Appendix I of the agreement.

hide

The fur of the male reaches a head body length of 110 to 120 centimeters, with the very large tail length of 90 to 122 centimeters it differs from other big cat skins. Females are a bit smaller. The average length of newborn animals is 23 to 30 centimeters, the tail length 15 to 16 centimeters. According to the cold climate, the fur is very dense, soft and long-haired. The head is relatively small; the soles of the feet are hairy.

The snow leopard resembles the larger leopard in terms of fur pattern , and the overall impression is also lynx-like . Often the fur was confused with the very light Caucasian and North Persian leopard with much smaller spots, but especially with the long-haired, also very light, but large-spotted Amur leopard .

The basic color is very light, especially in the winter coat, almost white, otherwise pale yellow or reddish gray-white, on the back and the flanks near the back, darker with a shade of gray, on the sides lighter. Black full spots change on the sides up to the thighs in black-gray to black ring spots, which are narrower along the back from head to tail and are arranged in rows. The drawing consists of black spots (patterns) of changing shapes and sizes, including spots, ribbons (stripes), distributed over the body; ring-like, half-ring-like shapes, rosettes (up to 7 or 8 centimeters in diameter) and angulations. Particularly striking is the speckling in the eel stripe, which extends in the middle of the fur from the head over the neck and back and continues in the tail. The throat, stomach, and insides of the legs are lighter to white. The tail is woolly, very densely haired and has black cross bands in the form of a half ring in a regular pattern. The spots vary greatly in size, shape and arrangement. In the black spots the guard hairs are completely black, otherwise black with a light band. With summer fur, the fur pattern is also more prominent due to the lack of undercoat, the fur appears much darker and not so washed out. In summer and in young animals the edges of the spots can be almost completely black; in thick winter fur they always appear gray-black. Compared to the leopard, the spots appear more blurred due to the thicker and smoky hair; they also vary almost more than in the leopard in their size, shape and arrangement. Overall, the shape, size and distribution of the spots are not as even as in the leopard, and sometimes the spots are less close together. The legs are heavily spotted (mainly outside). The drawing and the basic color vary individually; however, there are no geographical differences in coloration.

There are about 4000 hairs per square centimeter on the back fur. The ratio of guard hair to wool hair is 1: 8. The length of the leading hairs on the back reaches over 5 centimeters, the belly hair can be up to 12 centimeters long, like a lynx. In addition to hair with black tips, there is also very black hair. The hair is changed twice a year, the exact time does not seem to be known. The spring hair change will probably start at the end of April at the latest. Summer and winter fur differ only slightly in length and density,

History, trade

  • Lieutenant Gunji Shigetada with a snow leopard fur collar (Japan, before 1924)

  • Aleksandr Jagar, director of the Moscow Agricultural Academy, on a blanket made of snow leopard skin (around 1915)

Skin of a snow leopard hunted in 1775

In the first half of the 20th century, Irbiskins were highly valued and paid for by the population of the distribution area, but they were of no importance for the international market. The price of a good fur was 4.70 rubles at most. As late as 1956, buyers from the USA acquired 120 skins at the Leningrad auction for an average price of 11.25 dollars. As early as 1967, 11 years later, the only 10 skins offered were paid 175 dollars each.

1959 classified the Russian smoking products standard

a) sizes
a) over 4500 cm² b) up to 4500 cm²
b) Qualities : I, II, III, IV
c) Errors : small, medium, large

The earlier Russian standard divided the skins into Caucasian and Central Asian origins, although the snow leopard is not native to the Caucasus. Since it was difficult to put together suitable assortments with the low volume, the division according to tradition was finally abandoned. Likewise, in the deliveries of snow leopards, similarly made leopard pelts from the Russian area were probably offered.

The raw hides are delivered open, not peeled off round.

In Russia, the snow leopard, with a population of 800 to 1000 specimens, has been placed under protection. In India, the snow leopard has been protected since 1952. The import of snow leopard pelts into the USA has been banned since 1969. The World Conservation Union IUCN lists the species as endangered ("Endangered"). In the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species , the snow leopard ( Uncia uncia ) is in Appendix I, the initial listing and maximum protection took place on June 20, 1976. Protection under the Federal Nature Conservation Act (strictly protected) has existed since August 31, 1980.

processing

Originally the skins were only used for blankets (car covers), naturalized for rugs and wall hangings, often with elaborate heads. The very first jackets and coats made from big cat skins were made around 1900, at the time without approval from customers. At the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, the better qualities, especially when the price for lynx skins was high, began to be used for trimmings and trimmings , including sporty women's coats and jackets. Probably not until 1970, however, the deliveries were so low "that most furriers hardly ever held these skins in their hands".

In 1965, the fur consumption for a sheet of 4 to 6 pelts sufficient for a snow leopard coat was calculated (so-called coat “body” ). It was based on a board with a length of 112 centimeters and an average width of 150 centimeters and an additional sleeve section. This corresponds roughly to a fur material for a slightly exhibited coat of clothing size 46 from 2014. The maximum and minimum fur numbers can result from the different sizes of the sexes of the animals, the age groups and their origin. Depending on the type of fur, the three factors have different effects.

  • Snow leopard skins in artistic representations

  • As a rug (1878)

  • On a bench (1902)

  • Naturalized, in an artist's studio (no later than 1902)

Numbers and facts

  • In 1911 , the tobacco retailer Emil Brass discovered that it was difficult to determine how much Irbisfelle was on the market each year. About Nizhny Novgorod probably came 500 to 800 skins, China perhaps 100 pieces. Several hundred were also offered for sale in the Indian hill stations of Shimla etc., where they passed into the possession of tourists or Anglo-Indians . The wholesale price of a head in Germany fluctuated between 30 and 80 marks at the time.
  • In 1925 the value of a snow leopard fur in the tobacco shop was between 100 and 300 marks.
  • In 1949 it was said about the fur attack of snow leopards: “However, hardly more than 2-3000 furs come onto the market every year; The fur industry can't do much with that. "
  • Around 1959 , Russian experts estimated the annual number to be around 1,000.
  • In 1971 , snow leopards were still allowed to be hunted in Mongolia from October 18 to February 28. In the years before 1971 , the annual routes had increased from 351 in 1958 to over 450.
  • In 1988 it was noted on the appearance of fur, "insignificant, exact figures are not known". At that time, however, the legal trade in snow leopard pelts was already forbidden, at least in the first few years after the shelter is said to have been heavily poached in the Himalayan regions. It is not stated where these skins went.

See also

Commons : Snow Leopard Pelts  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Clothing made from snow leopard skins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

annotation

  1. ↑ The specified comparative values ​​( coefficients ) are the result of comparative tests by furriers and tobacco shops with regard to the degree of apparent wear and tear. The figures are not unambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of durability in practice, there are also influences from fur dressing and fur finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case . More precise information could only be determined on a scientific basis. The division was made in steps of ten percent each. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.
  2. ↑ The information for a body was only given to make it easier to compare the types of fur. In fact, bodies were only made for small (up to about muskrat size ) and common types of fur, and also for pieces of fur . The following dimensions for a coat body were taken as a basis: body = height 112 cm, width below 160 cm, width above 140 cm, sleeves = 60 × 140 cm.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Paul Schöps; H. Brauckhoff, Stuttgart; K. Häse, Leipzig, Richard König , Frankfurt / Main; W. Straube-Daiber, Stuttgart: The durability coefficients of fur skins . In: Das Pelzgewerbe , Volume XV, New Series, 1964, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, pp. 56–58.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Heinrich Dathe , Paul Schöps, with the collaboration of 11 specialists: Fur Animal Atlas . VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1986, pp. 217-218.
  3. ↑ a b Fritz Schmidt : The book of the fur animals and pelts . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich 1970, pp. 149–151.
  4. ↑ a b c d Dr. Paul Schöps, Sojuspuschnina auction company, among others: Snow leopard and clouded leopard . In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. X / New Series 1959 No. 3, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 103-107
  5. ↑ K. Toldt, Innsbruck: Structure and natural coloring of the hair coat of wild mammals . Publisher German Society for Small Animal and Fur Breeding, Leipzig 1935, p. 148.
  6. ^ A b Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel 's Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10. revised and supplemented new edition, Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, p. 87.
  7. ↑ www.wisia.de Scientific information system on international species protection, species protection database of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in Bonn. Last accessed January 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ Paul Larisch , Josef Schmid: The furrier craft . 1st year No. 2, III. Part, self-published, Paris November 1902, p. 60.
  9. ↑ Arthur Samet: Pictorial Encyclopedia of Furs . Arthur Samet (Book Division), New York 1950, p. 330. (Eng.)
  10. ↑ Paul Schöps among others: The material requirement for fur clothing . In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. XVI / New Series 1965 No. 1, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 7-12.
  11. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 1st edition, published by the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, pp. 406–407.
  12. ^ A b Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 2nd improved edition, publisher of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925, pp. 489-490.
  13. ↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XVIII. Tape. Alexander Tuma publishing house, Vienna 1949. Keyword “Irbis”.
  14. ↑ N. Dawaa, M. Not, G. Schünzel: About the fur animals of the Mongolian People's Republic (MVR) In: Das Pelzgewerbe Nr. 1, new series, 1971, p. 11.