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Fur is a body hair
Hair

Hair is a protein filament that epidermal growth from hair follicle deep within the dermis. The fine, soft hair found on many nonhuman mammals is typically called fur; wool is the characteristically curly hair found on sheep and goats....
 of any non-human mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
, also known as the pelage
Pelage

In mammals, pelage is the hair, fur, or wool that covers the animal. In many mammals, the pelage is made up of more than one type of hair. Some of the most prominent types of hair that make up the pelage include guard hairs , bristles , and the underfur, which traps in air to maintain temperature....
. It may consist of short ground hair, long guard hair
Guard hair

Guard hairs are the longest, most coarse hairs in a mammal's coat, forming the topcoat . They taper to a point and protect the undercoat from the elements....
, and, in some cases, medium awn hair
Awn hair

Awn hairs are the intermediate hairs in a mammal's coat. They are shorter than the guard hairs and longer than the down hairs. They help with Thermal insulation and protect the down hairs underneath....
.

Mammals with reduced amounts of fur are often called "naked", as in The Naked Ape
The Naked Ape

The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal is a 1967 book by Desmond Morris which looks at humans as a species and compares them to other animals....
, naked mole rat
Naked Mole Rat

The naked Blesmol , also known as the sand puppy, or desert mole rat is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa and the only species currently classified in genus Heterocephalus....
, and naked dogs
Hairless dog

A hairless dog is a dog with a genetics disposition for hairlessness. There are two known types of genetic hairlessness, a dominant gene and a recessive type....
. An animal with commercially valuable fur is known within the fur industry
Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur....
 as a furbearer. (See fur clothing
Fur clothing

Fur clothing is clothing made entirely of, or partially of, the fur of animals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, thought widely used as hominids first expanded outside of Africa....
).

The acquisition and use of fur is controversial. Animal welfare
Animal welfare

Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals for food, in Animal testing, as clothing, and in entertainment, so long as unnecessary suffering is avoided....
 advocates object to the trapping and killing of wildlife, and the confinement and killing of animals on fur farms
Fur farming

Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.The animal most commonly farmed for its fur is the mink....
.






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Encyclopedia


Fur is a body hair
Hair

Hair is a protein filament that epidermal growth from hair follicle deep within the dermis. The fine, soft hair found on many nonhuman mammals is typically called fur; wool is the characteristically curly hair found on sheep and goats....
 of any non-human mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
, also known as the pelage
Pelage

In mammals, pelage is the hair, fur, or wool that covers the animal. In many mammals, the pelage is made up of more than one type of hair. Some of the most prominent types of hair that make up the pelage include guard hairs , bristles , and the underfur, which traps in air to maintain temperature....
. It may consist of short ground hair, long guard hair
Guard hair

Guard hairs are the longest, most coarse hairs in a mammal's coat, forming the topcoat . They taper to a point and protect the undercoat from the elements....
, and, in some cases, medium awn hair
Awn hair

Awn hairs are the intermediate hairs in a mammal's coat. They are shorter than the guard hairs and longer than the down hairs. They help with Thermal insulation and protect the down hairs underneath....
.

Mammals with reduced amounts of fur are often called "naked", as in The Naked Ape
The Naked Ape

The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal is a 1967 book by Desmond Morris which looks at humans as a species and compares them to other animals....
, naked mole rat
Naked Mole Rat

The naked Blesmol , also known as the sand puppy, or desert mole rat is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa and the only species currently classified in genus Heterocephalus....
, and naked dogs
Hairless dog

A hairless dog is a dog with a genetics disposition for hairlessness. There are two known types of genetic hairlessness, a dominant gene and a recessive type....
. An animal with commercially valuable fur is known within the fur industry
Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur....
 as a furbearer. (See fur clothing
Fur clothing

Fur clothing is clothing made entirely of, or partially of, the fur of animals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, thought widely used as hominids first expanded outside of Africa....
).

The acquisition and use of fur is controversial. Animal welfare
Animal welfare

Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals for food, in Animal testing, as clothing, and in entertainment, so long as unnecessary suffering is avoided....
 advocates object to the trapping and killing of wildlife, and the confinement and killing of animals on fur farms
Fur farming

Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.The animal most commonly farmed for its fur is the mink....
. More than 40 million animals are killed worldwide each year for their fur, 30 million of them on fur farms.

Nature of fur

Fur usually consists of two main layers:
  • Ground hair or underfur or down hair
    Down hair

    Down hairs, also called the ground hairs, are the very fine, fluffy hairs closest to the skin on some mammals. The hairs are short and crimped, which makes them highly efficient for trapping air and insulating the animal....
     — the bottom layer consisting of wool hairs which tend to be shorter, flattened, curly, and denser than the top layer. Its principal function is thermal insulation and thus thermoregulation
    Thermoregulation

    Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its core temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different....
    .
  • Guard hair
    Guard hair

    Guard hairs are the longest, most coarse hairs in a mammal's coat, forming the topcoat . They taper to a point and protect the undercoat from the elements....
     — the top layer consisting of longer, often coarser, straight shafts of hair that stick out through the underfur. This is usually the visible layer for most mammals and contains most of the pigmentation. It protects the underfur from outside factors, such as rain, and is thus often water-repellent.


A third layer, the awn hair
Awn hair

Awn hairs are the intermediate hairs in a mammal's coat. They are shorter than the guard hairs and longer than the down hairs. They help with Thermal insulation and protect the down hairs underneath....
, may also exist. It is intermediate between the two others.

Use in clothing

In clothing, fur is leather with the hair retained for its insulating properties. Fur has long served as a source of clothing for humans, especially in colder climates. Modern cultures continue to wear natural fiber fur and fur trim and for many, such natural fibers are preferred alternatives to synthetic clothing from petrochemicals.

Animal furs used in garments and trim may be dyed bright colors or to mimic exotic animal patterns, or shorn down to imitate the feel of a soft velvet fabric. The term "a fur" is often used to refer to a fur coat, wrap, or shawl.

Common animal sources for fur clothing and fur trimmed accessories include fox
Fox

A fox is an animal belonging to any one of about 27 species of small to medium-sized Canidae, characterized by possessing a long, narrow snout, and a bushy tail, or brush....
, rabbit
Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genus in the family taxonomy as rabbits, including the European rabbit , Cottontail rabbit , and the Amami rabbit ....
, mink
Mink

There are two living species of mink: the American Mink and the European Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but is much larger....
, beaver
Beaver

Beavers are two primarily nocturnal, semi-aquatic species of rodent, one native to North America and one to Eurasia. They are known for building dams, canals, and lodges ....
s, ermine
Ermine

Ermine has several meanings:-*The name for the stoat when it is in its white winter pelage; in North America also the most usual common name for the species, though it is also called the short-tailed weasel)....
, otter
Otter

Otters are semi-aquatic fish-eating mammals. The otter Rank Lutrinae forms part of the Family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, as well as others....
s, sable
Sable

The sable is a small carnivorous mammal, closely related to the martens. It inhabits taiga environments primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, in northern Mongolia and China and on Hokkaido in Japan....
, seals
Pinniped

Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae ....
, cat
Cat

The cat , also known as the Domestication cat or house cat to distinguish it from other Felinae and Felidae, is a small predationy carnivore species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, scorpions, and other unwanted household pests....
s, dog
Dog

The dog is a domesticated subspecies of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties....
s, coyote
Coyote

The coyote , also known as the prairie wolf, is a species of canid found throughout North America and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States, and Canada....
s, chinchilla
Chinchilla

Chinchillas are crepuscular rodents, slightly larger than ground squirrels, native to the Andes mountains in South America. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they belong to the family Chinchillidae....
, and possum
Possum

A possum is any of about 64 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi . The name derives from their resemblance to the opossums of the Americas....
.. The import and sale of seal
Seal

Seal may refer to:...
 products was banned in the U.S. in 1972 over conservation concerns about Canadian seals. The import, export and sales of domesticated cat and dog fur was also banned in the U.S. under the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000.

The manufacturing of fur clothing involves obtaining animal pelts where the hair is left on the animal's processed skin. In contrast, making leather
Leather

Leather is a material created through the tanning of rawhides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses....
 involves removing the hair from the hide or pelt and using only the skin. The use of wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 involves shearing the animal's fleece from the living animal, so that the wool can be regrown but sheepskin shearling is made by retaining the fleece to the leather and shearing it. Shearling is used for boots, jackets and coats and is probably the most common type of skin worn.

Fur is also used to make felt. A common felt is made from beaver hair and is used in high-end cowboy hats.

Fake fur
Fake fur

Fake fur, also called fun fur or faux fur, is any material made of synthetic fibers designed to resemble fur, normally as part of a piece of clothing....
 or "faux fur" designates any synthetic material that mimics the appearance and feel of real fur, without the use of animal products. It is not renewable or biodegradable, and there are mounting concerns about its ecological footprint.

Controversy

Animal rights
Animal rights

Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings....
 and animal welfare
Animal welfare

Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals for food, in Animal testing, as clothing, and in entertainment, so long as unnecessary suffering is avoided....
 activists are opposed to the trapping and killing of wildlife, and the confinement and killing of animals on fur farms
Fur farming

Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.The animal most commonly farmed for its fur is the mink....
. More than 40 million animals are killed worldwide each year for their fur.

Recently, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) investigated China's dog and cat fur trade.

Fur fetishes

The soft, warm texture of fur appeals to many people; for some, the attraction becomes a fur fetishism, a fetishistic attraction to people wearing fur, or in certain cases, to the fur garments themselves.

See also

  • Wool
    Wool

    Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
  • Coat (animal)
    Coat (animal)

    Coat, or the nature and quality of a show mammal's pelage, is important to the animal fancy in the judging of the animal, particularly at conformation show, cat show and horse show....
  • Pelage
    Pelage

    In mammals, pelage is the hair, fur, or wool that covers the animal. In many mammals, the pelage is made up of more than one type of hair. Some of the most prominent types of hair that make up the pelage include guard hairs , bristles , and the underfur, which traps in air to maintain temperature....
  • Animal coloration
    Animal colouration

    Animal colouration has been a topic of interest and research in biology for well over a century. Colours may be crypsis Natural Selection and Tropical Nature....
  • Cat coat genetics
    Cat coat genetics

    The genetics of cat coat coloration, pattern, length, and texture is a complex subject, and many different genes are involved....


Human activities


  • Fur farming
    Fur farming

    Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.The animal most commonly farmed for its fur is the mink....
  • Tanning
    Tanning

    Tanning is the process of making leather, which does not easily Decomposition, from the skins of animals, which do. Often this uses tannin, an acidic chemical compound....