Protesters bare skin against bear skins

RIGA, July 15 (Reuters Life!) A small group of animal rights activists in Latvia demonstrated in front of the British embassy on Tuesday to protest against the use of bear fur in the ceremonial headgear of some British army regiments.

Three young women and a man held a banner that said "Bare skin, not bear skin".

The quartet were wearing copies of bearskin helmets, their underwear and had union jacks, the British flag, painted on their exposed backsides.

Real bearskin hats, which are about half a metre high, are worn by soldiers on specific occasions, such as when guarding Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.

"We are not against the hats, just against the material they are using and as far as I know a majority of Brits are against this too," Solvita Viba of Latvian animal rights organization Animal Friends told Reuters in the capital Riga.

The protesters from Latvia's Animal Friends, known internationally as People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA.L), stood silently for half an hour before leaving the embassy area without incident.

"We decided not to go out and comment on this. The British government is considering alternatives and different possibilities, but so far none of the suggestions received by the Defence Ministry have proven adequate," British embassy spokeswoman Lelde Pfafrode said.

This is not the first time animal rights groups have protested against the use of Canadian Black Bear skin in military headgear across the world. A number of armies use the furs for military hats.

In Britain wearing bearskins is thought to have been a tradition of some regiments since 1815 when the monarch granted the right to don the headgear in recognition of the defeat of Napoleon's bearskin-wearing Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo.