- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
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- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
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- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
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- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
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- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
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Canadian trappers wrestle with loss of Russia, Ukraine fur markets
Trying to maintain his balance on a dam, Canadian trapper Ray Gall advances cautiously as he tries to retrieve a large black beaver snared in one of his traps.
Few people in the country still manage to make a living solely in the business, which dates back 400 years to the first Indigenous trades of pelts to European explorers.
But thousands of Canadians, including Indigenous people, are still active in the now heavily-regulated industry.
"It's the oldest profession" in Canada, says Gall, 47, a municipal water worker who traps, foxes, wolves and coyotes in his spare time in forests about a three-hour drive north of Toronto.
"There's always gonna be a need for trappers whether the market is there or not," he comments before untangling the beaver carcass and stuffing it in a pack that he throws over his shoulder.
With human encroachment reducing animal habitats, shorter winters caused by climate change, and plunging fur prices, "trapping is getting more and more difficult," says 70-year-old Indigenous trapper Tom Borg.
"It's part of our heritage and it's part of us. So that's tough, it's like taking a piece of you away," he comments, misty-eyed.
The market has been struggling under pressure from luxury brands' boycotts, the absence of Chinese buyers since the start of the pandemic, and now the loss of two key markets in Russia and Ukraine since Moscow's invasion.
But Robin Horwath, head of the Fur Institute of Canada and general manager of the Ontario Fur Managers Federation, is optimistic for a turnaround.
The situation now "is stable," he said, after it got "about as low in the cycle as it can go."
- Pelts tied in bundles for auction -
Canada is the largest producer of wild furs in the world, with some 415,000 pelts sold in the 2019-2020 season for a total of Can$13.8 million (US$11.0 million).
Inside North America's last major fur auction in North Bay, about 350 kilometers north of Toronto, brokers are busy checking out the offerings ahead of the big event, which is being held online for a third year in a row due to the pandemic.
In a vast warehouse, tens of thousands of animal pelts -- including lynxes, foxes, wolves and black bears -- are tied in bundles hanging from racks, sorted by size, color and quality.
Catalogue and pencil in hand, broker Michel Roberge acts as the eyes and hands of foreign buyers for whom he meticulously inspects each fur.
"Since it's a luxury market, naturally we are affected first" in the event of a crisis," says the Montreal merchant.
- Coyote fur trim -
Growing pressure from animal rights activists in Europe and North America led several major luxury brands, such as Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and Chanel, to stop using fur.
"The fur industry's been around, it's our oldest, and it's risen and crashed many, many times during the last 400 years," said Mark Downey of the Fur Harvesters Auction in North Bay.
"Canada Goose's exiting the fur trade... was definitely a black mark for the industry."
But he is sure other manufacturers will fill the "void" left by the Canadian company, which announced last year it would soon stop using coyote fur trim on its parka hoods -- a feature that for five decades had helped keep Arctic explorers' faces warm.
The industry will also have to cope with the lack of access to markets in Ukraine and Russia -- the latter being the world's second-largest for fur, but targeted by Canadian and allied economic sanctions.
"The war between Ukraine and Russia is a huge handicap because our (other) big buyers from Greece, Italy and Turkey... their manufactured (fur) products are sold into Russia and Ukraine," Downey explained, and subject to the sanctions.
"But (the industry) will come back again," he said. "The demand is huge," especially in Asia.
L.Janezki--BTB