CA Law Skins Peter to Pay Python

Legislation

Posted Aug 6, 2007, 12:54 pm CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Snakeskin is the hot material for designer handbags this fall. But a California law banning the sale of products made from pythons means that the some of the hottest accessories will be made of anaconda, which is also banned for commercial use in Brazil.

Neither species is listed as endangered, but environmentalists fear both snakes could be threatened by commercial harvesting, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.

California also restricts the sale of products made with kangaroo skin. The state supreme court recently upheld the ban, saying it doesn’t conflict with federal law. See this ABAJournal.com post for details.