Kangaroo leather: Sales ban on shoes demanded

Nature and animal welfare organizations in Europe, Australia, and the USA are calling on adidas and Puma to stop selling shoes made from kangaroo leather.

They are urging the companies' boards to follow the example of clothing manufacturers such as Versace and Diadora and to stop using kangaroo leather products in the future. Both brands continue to process this highly controversial leather, for which kangaroos are brutally killed. Germany is the world's third-largest importer of kangaroo leather and meat.

The devastating bushfires in Australia at the start of the year burned around 120,000 square kilometres of forests, grasslands, and bushland — equivalent to roughly one third of Germany's total area. The fires also severely affected the habitat ofkangaroos . Up to three billion animals perished in the flames or were displaced. Yet the commercial hunting of 1.6 million kangaroos per year continues unabated — including in areas destroyed by the bushfires. Climate change, habitat loss, and hunting are placing increasing pressure on kangaroo populations.

The hunting of these animals is particularly cruel and incompatible with the animal welfare regulations in force in Germany and across Europe. Buyers of kangaroo leather such as adidas and Puma bear shared responsibility for this.

Daniela Freyer of Pro Wildlife.

Organizations appeal to German sporting goods manufacturers

Despite these serious allegations, adidas and Puma still produce sports shoes made from kangaroo leather (also known as “K-Leather”). Both companies already work with recycled materials, making their continued use of “K-Leather” a weak point. Sustainability and compliance with animal welfare standards are also becoming increasingly important to consumers. Both adidas and Puma have set goals in the areas of sustainability and animal welfare. Adidas and Puma state that they do not process leather from animals that have been treated “inhumanely”, and Puma additionally pledges not to use leather from exotic animals.  “Why leather from the extremely cruel kangaroo hunt is still being sourced is incomprehensible. It is high time that adidas and PUMA banish this leather from their shoe shelves and from the pitch”, said the Pro Wildlife spokesperson. „Given the impact of the devastating wildfires, the sale of kangaroo leather products is even harder to justify.”

More and more companies are switching their production

There are already early signs of a rethink within the industry. “At the beginning of August, Prada announced that it would immediately cease processing kangaroo leather”, says Daniela Freyer. The fashion house thus joins the likes of Versace and Italian shoe manufacturer Diadora, both of which had already announced this year that they would stop using kangaroo leather.