Crocodile and alligator leather farming involves intensive captive production under conditions that deny natural behaviors and cause significant welfare problems in animals adapted to territorial, wild lives.
Crocodilians are ectotherms requiring thermal gradients, water, territory, and complex environmental stimulation. Concrete farm tanks deny all of these requirements. Crowding in farming systems causes chronic stress and aggression, with animals in unnatural density unable to establish the territories fundamental to their psychology. Slaughter at farms often involves inadequate stunning methods, leaving animals conscious during the killing process. The welfare case for crocodile leather farming is poor regardless of the luxury status of the end product.