What If We Paid Leopards For Their Spots, Through A "Species Royalty"?

Ever since Jacqueline Kennedy was photographed in the 60s with a knee-length leopard coat, the leopard print has remained a timelessly popular fashion choice. While actual leopard coats made from real skins are far more rare today, a recent review of fashion website ShopStyle found that the retailer offered more than nineteen thousand leopard-print products for sale. According to some researchers, "the prevalence of leopard print in fashion might even have the effect of misrepresenting the prevalence of real leopards in their native habitat."

Some activists suggest this could be a golden opportunity to raise money to support leopards through the introduction of something they are calling a species royalty. Essentially, a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of any leopard-print items would go to support actual leopards. "A species royalty ... would enable all who appropriate the leopard's guise, thinkingly or not, to repay their own debt to nature."

While complicated to implement, it's an imaginative way to bring awareness to an endangered species that has provided the inspiration for so many items of clothing.