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Illegal python skins worth an estimated $1 billion are being imported into Europe every year to feed growing demand for the luxury leather, according to a new report.
Nearly 500,000 skins are shipped on the black market from southeast Asia every year to grace the windows of Europe's fashion houses, particularly in France, Germany and Spain, a report by the Python Conservation Partnership found.
The rising demand from major brands like Calvin Klein and Jimmy Choo, which use the exotic patterned skin to make handbags, shoes and jackets, is depleting wild populations of the giant snake.
Instead, the report said commercial python farming, previously deemed unviable as the snakes take too long to mature and are difficult to feed and breed in captivity, could be the answer.
"This report offers a possible alternative solution to the sourcing of python skins for which demand is escalating," said Jean-Christophe Vie, a senior executive at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which backed the study.