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The Nile Crocodile:
Gucci's favorite leather?
by Tarek Atia
Sobek, the ancient Egyptian crocodile diety pictured below left, means "He who causes to be fertile." If everything goes as planned with the crocodile farm set to spring up on Lake Nasser, the "farmers" are looking at futures as fertile as the banks of the Nile.
Just 15 kilometers off of the solitary desert highway from Aswan to Abu Simbel, a crocodile farm is set to spring up amidst the sandy dunes. The 500 acre farm will be the first of its kind in Egypt, combining crocodile breeding with a theme park/zoo open to visitors. Lake Nasser, the vast body of water created by the High Dam, is renowned for its exotic marine and wild-life. Its crocodile are legendary -- and ferocious. Countless news items have appeared in the Egyptian press over the years showing giant crocodiles caught and skinned by the authorities, after having attacked and eaten fishermen off the lake.
Alligator and crocodile farms have had an interesting history, with some of the first appearing in Florida, USA in the early 1900s. They were banned half a century later, blamed for depleting the state's alligator supply. Today, however, with the state of Florida estimated to be "home to over 1,000,000 alligators," the concept of alligator and crocodile breeding for fun and profit is again alive and well. According to published figures, there are "an estimated 30+ alligator farms in the State of Florida. This multi-million dollar industry generates approximately 300,000 pounds of meat and over 15,000 skins a year. Alligator meat averages $5-$7 a pound wholesale, and while skin prices vary year to year, the average price is around $25 per foot."
The potential at Lake Nasser also seems great, but will Egypt's crocodiles be able to compete in the global exotic meat and skin market?
It seems the Nile Alligator has already been successful abroad in other ways. According to an article by Paul Hargrave, "Paris sewer maintenance men were mystified by a sudden decline in the number of rats under the streets of Paris in 1984.
"The amazing reason for this was later discovered to be an alligator prowling the pipes. Firemen caught the animal, a ferocious Nile Alligator, which now takes pride of place in Vannes Aquarium.
It spends its days basking in its glass tank while deadly piranhas swim around its feet."
Today, King of an Aquarium in Brittany. Tomorrow Gucci's favorite leather. If everything goes as planned, the Nile Alligator and Crocodile farmers on Lake Nasser are looking at futures as bright as the sun on Abu Simbel.
(September 6, 2001)
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