Ostrich feathers / ostrich meat influences

The ostrich has been known for thousands of years, from the time of the civilizations of Asia and Egypt. First reference to ostriches in South Africa were recorder around 1770. According to the same reference the farm were situated in the Cape Province. Archeological research has shown that ostriches existed million years ago as far as the Far East. The ostrich feather trade dates back only to thousands of years. Commercial ostrich farming started in South Africa around 1800. Since then, it has become firmly established in the in the Klein Karoo region.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the ostrich feathers symbolized great wealth and prestige. The Jewish community in Oudthoorn were the masterminds in the ostrich feather industry in the early 1900s, they developed it into a very important economic commodity for South Africa. The feathers were exported to Europe for mainly fashion and decoration purposes (wide brim hats, fans). Fashion then changed and the feather demand dropped drastically with the onset of WW1, the war effected export and demand in Europe and SA farmers also were going through a drought period, which effected production.

Ostrich farming continued but in a much smaller scale. The feather demand changed to industrial and home use e.g. feather dusters and cleaning instruments. At the beginning of the 20th century, the ostrich skins became a sought-after commodity. Ostrich leather remains one of the few exotic leather types available. Leather processing of ostrich skins was first processed in South Africa in 1970. The skin prices grew as the market grew and by early 1990 ostrich skin prices reached up to US$500.00 each. In 1993 when the South African ostrich monopoly was abolished the leather prices began to decline until to today.

The meat industry also is a growing industry and can compete with the leather in value. The outbreak of avian flu resulted in meat export bans and resulted in meat being sold in South African local market. The meat is now been declared free of avian flu and exports have resumed into Europe.

From this account of history, we could learn that the ostrich meat idustry has been effected by disease and the ostrich feathers by fashion/market demand.