Nutria fur, also known as coypu fur, is used in the fashion industry. It comes from the nutria, a South American rodent and cousin of the beaver.
Nutria fur, also known as coypu fur, is used in the fashion industry. It comes from the nutria, a South American rodent and cousin of the beaver.
The nutria is a semi-aquatic mammal native to South America. It first became internationally popular as a fur in the 1930s, when it was worn by Hollywood stars such as Greta Garbo. [1] It resembles beaver, with stiff guard hairs and a soft, short undercoat. [2]
It was originally imported to the southern United States – possibly as early as the 19th century, although in larger numbers from the 1950s – to reduce the population of muskrat. [3] [4] Some escaped and found the swamps of Louisiana ideal territory, leading to their common name of swamp rat. With the decline in the fur market in the 1980s, the population mushroomed and threatened the stability of the wetland ecosystem by eating away the plants that hold the swamp together. [4]
Typically, nutria is sheared or plucked for the fur trade. It can be dyed a variety of colors. Its middle weight – considerably lighter than beaver – also makes it suitable for linings. More recently, it is used by some furriers without plucking or shearing. In its natural colour it is light to rich brown, the most valuable furs being in the darker shades, but it may also be dyed. [3]
A faux nutria, made of rabbit fur was at one time branded as nutriette. [5]
In 2010, both the BBC and The New York Times reported that nutria was being promoted as a socially acceptable way to wear fur, with a fashion show held in Brooklyn sponsored by the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, a conservation body working to preserve Louisiana swampland threatened by the nutria. [1] [4]
Oscar de la Renta and Michael Kors are among the designers to have incorporated nutria into their designs, with de La Renta using it on hats and trims and Kors using it to line raincoats. [6]
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver and the Eurasian beaver. Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras, weighing up to 50 kg (110 lb). They have stout bodies with large heads, long chisel-like incisors, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet, and tails that are flat and scaly. The two species differ in skull and tail shape and fur color. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. They are herbivorous, consuming tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges.
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The nutria or coypu is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent from South America. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, Myocastor is now included within Echimyidae, the family of the spiny rats. The nutria lives in burrows alongside stretches of water and feeds on river plant stems. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by fur farmers. Although it is still hunted and trapped for its fur in some regions, its destructive burrowing and feeding habits often bring it into conflict with humans, and it is considered an invasive species. Nutria also transmit various diseases to humans and animals, mainly through water contamination.
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued. Historically the trade stimulated the exploration and colonization of Siberia, northern North America, and the South Shetland and South Sandwich Islands.
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