Fur Trade Facts: Raise Awareness About This Horrible Practice

Fur trading started with the first trade between Europeans and Indians.

The fur trade is the industry of buying and selling animals' furs. Since establishing the world's first fur market in the early modern period, polar furs of boreal and cold-temperate mammals have been most valued.

As a result of the trade, North America, Siberia, Sandwich Islands, and the South Shetland were explored and colonized. Today, the fur trade relies on pelts produced at fur farms and regulated fur-bearer trapping. However, it has also become controversial.

Russian Fur Trade

Russia was a major supplier of fur pelts to parts of Asia and western Europe before colonization by Europeans in the Americas.

As the Russian trade developed in the early Middle Ages, it first traded at posts around the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and Leipzig was the main trading destination. Kievan Rus, Russia's first state, was the first to supply the Russian fur. Russia originally exported raw furs, commonly sourced from marten, beaver, wolf, fox, squirrel, and hare pelts.

Russians began to settle in Siberia. Siberia was famous for its wide variety of fur-bearing animals, including arctic foxes, lynxes, sables, sea otters, stoats, and many more. The Russian Empire expanded into North America, notably Alaska, to find the prized sea otter pelts used in China and later for the fur seal in North America.

Russia was the world's largest fur trader from the 17th century into the mid 19th century. The fur trade truly played a critical role in developing Siberia, the Russian Far East, and the Russian colonization of the Americas.

Russian fur production used to account for about 40% of the world's total. St. Petersburg was the world's largest fur producer. Mink, fox, and sable were mostly imported from the Soviet Union.

There has never been a strong anti-fur movement in Russia, probably because fur has been valued for beauty and warmth. Fur coats and fur hats are fixtures of Russian life during the winter months. Russia has few animal rights groups, and people are free to wear fur without being harassed.

Siberian Fur Trade

In the Siberian fur trade, valuable animal furs that originate from Siberia are collected, traded, and bought and sold worldwide. This localized trade developed into international trade, and today Siberian fur is traded worldwide.

There were several direct negative consequences for Siberia due to the Siberian fur trade. Trappers and traders collected fur without considering the effect on the population as early as the 18th century, and fur-bearing animals decreased across Siberia.

Hunters hunted sables in an area until they decimated the population, then they would move on to another hunting ground. To keep sables from extinction in 1913, hunting for sables was prohibited.

The Siberian fur trade has killed many animals, which has seriously damaged the region's ecology. There were roughly 10-15 million squirrels killed each year in Siberia during the middle of the 19th century, in addition to tens of thousands of ermines, sables, martens, foxes, lynxes, rabbits, and wolverines.

Clothing made for Siberian fur sales includes fur robes, fur throws, coats, hats, gloves, shawls, and boots, among other items. Siberian fur has been used to make various items, but fur clothing is the most common.

North American Fur Trade

European fishermen first encountered Native Americans in Newfoundland who exchanged pelts for iron tools. The Hudson's Bay Company was the largest fur company governed by the British.

It was French explorers and fishermen who were the earliest fur traders in North America, arriving in what is now eastern Canada in the early 1500s.

A craze for fur hats made of beaver fur prompted the fur trade in Europe during the 17th century. In the early fur trade, Indigenous people and the French played the most significant roles. The French exchanged European goods for beaver pelts with Indigenous people.

Socioeconomic Associations

Fur trade often benefited political alliances more than economic aspects.

Trade was an important way for cultures to maintain good relations. Most fur traders were wealthy men with strong social positions in their native cultures.

Younger men who went to North America to enter the fur trade were usually single and had to marry or cohabit with high-ranking Indian women of similar status.

Fur trimmings from the animals which are alive is a crime, and fur from the animals which are already dead by natural causes can be extracted.

There is a lot of demand for fur products in the market; as a result, a lot of animals are killed each year for their fur. People worldwide consume products made out of fur, and they don't even know if it's from a dead animal or from the ones who are killed to extract fur from it.

If the usage of fur products is reduced, then the killing of animals for fur extraction can be reduced to a certain extent.

FAQs

What was the main traded fur?

Beaver pelts from beaver skins are the main staple of the trade. A craze for hats made of beaver fur prompted the fur trade in Europe during the 17th century. Indigenous peoples and the French were the most important players in the early fur trade.

What is the fur trade?

The fur trade is an industry that deals with purchasing and selling animal fur worldwide.

How did the French profit most from their activities in the new world?

It was the fur trade that drove New France's economy. Fur harvesting led to wealth, money, and the exploration of the continent, resulting in alliances with many Aboriginal people.

Why was the fur trade important?

Fur trading led to European exploration and colonization, and it enabled Canada to become wealthy and spawned wars between nations over its wealth. The fur trade also led to relatively peaceful relations between Indigenous peoples and European in several instances.

Why were beaver pelts so valuable?

During the winter, animal pelts were preferred for their warmth, especially the beaver wool hats that were highly regarded in Europe. Consequently, the beaver in Europe and Europe Russia had largely disappeared due to the high demand for these hats.

Why did fur trapping become an unprofitable business?

There was no longer a demand for beaver pelts for clothing. The demand and supply for beaver pelts dropped, and fur trappers had to find an alternate method of earning money.

Who was involved in the fur trade?

The following three parties were involved in the fur trade after the War of 1812: the fur trading companies, Native Americans, and the US government. They worked together, and each party benefited from a stable trading environment.

What were the early Canadian fur traders called?

'Coureurs de bois' was the early name of Canadian fur traders, which meant 'runners of the woods'. While trading otter, mink, beaver, fox, and marten for pots, tools, and liquor, they were also introduced to Aboriginal trapping, hunting, and canoeing techniques.

What three factors ended the fur trade?

Three factors that ended fur trading were; a decline in the population of fur-bearing animals due to excessive poaching, changes in fashion, and a decrease in animal population caused by the clearing of land for urbanization.

How did the fur trade lead to an interest in Oregon?

The fur traders were the first to explore the region, develop relations with Native Americans, and open the floodgates of emigration along the Oregon Trail that provided the United States with control over the Pacific Northwest south of the 49th parallel.

How do they make fur?

A:  It is made by two processes, the letting-out technique, and the skin-on-skin method.

Are minks killed for fur?

Among the Mustelidae family of mammals, minks are small mammals, and it is American minks that are most commonly used to produce fur. Almost all minks raised for the fur industry are born and die on the same factory farm where they were born, and the majority of their short lives are spent without ever venturing out into nature.

Should fur be banned?

Yes, fur should be banned. The fur trade not only harms innocent animals but also creates dangerous zoonotic diseases that threaten human welfare.

What animals were hunted in the fur trade?

A: There was high demand for beaver pelts, but other animals such as farmed mink, muskrat, and sable marten fox were also trapped.

How many animals are killed each year for their fur?

100 million animals are killed each year for their fur.

What was beaver fur used for?

Beavers are used to making clothes and hats. The northern regions of America were known for exporting beaver pelts as one of their key natural resources.

How did the fur trade affect the development of Canada?

In many instances, the fur trade helped develop peace between European colonists and Indigenous peoples. It was vital to European exploration and colonization, and it helped build Canada and make it wealthy.