What Is Kangaroo Leather?

Kangaroos are hunted for their hides and meat.

Kangaroo leather is kangaroo hide cured into a lightweight, strong leather that's sought after by the footwear and apparel industries. The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia (KIAA) said that only four of Australia's 48 species of kangaroo have commercial value.

Kangaroo Leather Products

Kangaroo leather is used to make clothing, bags and shoes. Athletic shoemakers prize it for its superior strength-to-weight ratio. The KIAA says most of the soccer shoes worn by professional players worldwide are made from kangaroo leather. The group said the trade in kangaroo leather and other kangaroo products employs over 4,000 people, most of them in remote rural communities with little other employment.

Origin

Kangaroo leather is made from the hides of wild-caught animals. Kangaroos are not farmed. About 2 million kangaroos, worth A$270 million, are taken by gunfire each year out of a population averaging around 25 million, said the KIAA. Australians eat the meat from these harvested kangaroos, and use kangaroo in their pet foods.

Unique Qualities

Unlike leather from cattle, said the KIAA, kangaroo leather is structurally uniform with collagen fibers running in parallel with the skin surface rather than at varying angles to the surface. This means a piece of kangaroo leather can be split into as many as five thin sheets, with each sheet retaining up to 60 percent of the tensile strength of an unsplit hide. Further, said the KIAA, kangaroo hide lacks the sweat glands and hair erector muscles that are potential weak spots in cowhide.

Hunting is Regulated

Australia's Department of the Environment, in concert with state governments, regulates the kangaroo industry. The national agency sets kangaroo harvest limits, makes regulations for taking and processing kangaroos, and issues licenses to kangaroo hunters and processing centers. State governments conduct annual kangaroo population counts and enforce the national kangaroo harvest regulations.

Harvest is Controversial

The kangaroo harvest is controversial. Australian animal rights advocates decry killing one of Australia's most-beloved and recognized animal symbols for commercial gain and assert the approved harvesting methods cause unnecessary suffering. But several Australian environmental groups and the government itself assert the kangaroo industry is sustainable, humane and environmentally sound. They argue native kangaroos do much less damage to the environment than the sheep and cattle introduced from Europe, that hunting prevents overpopulation, and that the hunting regulations ensure quick, clean kills.

References

• Kangaroo Industry Facts
• Government View of the Kangaroo Trade