What drives the human desire for wildlife products, despite the suffering it causes?

in #life6 years ago

A pair of footstools made from elephant feet. A coat with matching shoes, hat, and purse made from the pelts of 20 leopards. Crates filled with bags and bags of dessicated seahorses. Britta Jaschinski’s photographs of items seized at airports and border crossings are a quest to understand what it is about the human psyche that fuels a demand for wildlife products, even as this causes suffering and, in some cases, pushes animals to the brink of extinction.20-Leopards.adapt.1190.1.jpg

Zebra-Shopping-2.adapt.1190.1.jpgRhino-Ashtray.adapt.1190.1.jpgConfiscated.adapt.1190.1.jpgEngandered-Monkeys.adapt.1190.1.jpgBear-Paw-Slipper.adapt.1190.1.jpgHornbill.adapt.1190.1.jpg