Inside Malaysia s Gruesome Snake Skin Trade

Economy of Scales: The illegal trade that s hastening the extinction of the python. For similar stories, see: The Gruesome Details behind Snakeskin Purses https://youtu.be/ZT55RpM23Bw Snakes Kills More People than Deadly Diseases in Papua New Guinea https://youtu.be/s5i-aT8TszY Are Malaysian Indians Being Treated as Second-Class Citizens? https://youtu.be/IlXyjcBXFAs Subscribe to Journeyman for daily current affairs and science reports: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=journeymanpictures For downloads and more information visit: http://www.journeyman.tv/67962/short-films/economy-of-scales.html Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/journeymanpi... Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JourneymanVOD https://twitter.com/JourneymanNews Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/journeymanpictures For over forty years Malaysia s forests supplied python skin to major Euro fashion brands in a trade worth billions of dollars. But that was before a 2004 EU ban forced Malaysia s snake hunters underground. Pandian and his cousin Ganesan have been professional Python hunters for over 15 years, but they increasingly face a battle to make a living. "Before, we could catch ten a day", Pandian explains. "Now we just get one or two". Fears of extinction lead to the EU ban on Malaysian python skins. But it s proved ineffective and contraband skins still find their way to Europe. According to a CITES official, "they ve simply re-routed the trade from Singapore". There might yet be alternatives to hunting and a few enterprising Malaysians have opened up pioneering farms to save both the trade and the wild species. But is it too little too late for the python? Wild Angle - Ref 6309 Journeyman Pictures is your independent source for the world s most powerful films, exploring the burning issues of today. We represent stories from the world s top producers, with brand new content coming in all the time. On our channel you ll find outstanding and controversial journalism covering any global subject you can imagine wanting to know about.