Fox and rabbit pelts could be a lucrative industry if properly organised.
Manufacturer Akubra to import rabbit fur for iconic Australian hat
The famous Australian hat maker, Akubra, will now only use European rabbits to make its popular broad-rimmed hat.
Rabbit skin supplier Matthew Naus and Roy Wilkinson from Akubra on a decision to import already processed rabbit fur ( ABC News )
It has been using a mix of local and imported skins in recent years, but is now shutting down its rabbit fur processing operation at Kempsey on the New South Wales mid-north coast and will buy in processed fur from overseas.
Akubra chief financial officer Roy Wilkinson said the company had to cut its rabbit skin processing operation, and import fur already processed.
He said the company was not making money and needed to cut costs to stay in business.
"When your operation is losing money, you have to make a decision in the best interests of your total operation," he said.
"We need two to three million rabbit skins to make what we make, and I'm getting about 10 to 15 per cent of that from Australian suppliers.
"If there was an industry that could supply my total equation, like prior to the calicivirus, then happy days, we would take that. http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-07-08/akubra-to-import-rabbit-fur/6603106 The biological controls or viruses we infect rabbits with make them useless for processing.
Once upon a time fox skins were worth something.
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