May 18, 2025, 9:28 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Adidas, the sportswear manufacturer, has announced it will no longer use kangaroo leather in its products. This decision is welcomed by animal rights activists worldwide. However, it comes as a surprise to many for several reasons.
Adidas’ announcement to stop using kangaroo leather came as a surprise to many. Primarily, this is because few people in Central Europe are aware that kangaroo skin is even used as leather. Adidas announced the end of this practice at its annual shareholders’ meeting. According to CEO Bjørn Gulden, Adidas had already quietly ceased using kangaroo leather months ago.1
“Many Die a Slow, Painful Death”
Animal rights activists celebrate this decision as a victory in the fight against animal cruelty. It also sheds light on the dark reality of wildlife exploitation by the fashion industry. This followed a campaign by animal rights activists titled “Kangaroos Are Not Shoes,” urging Adidas to stop trading in kangaroo hides. This happened after other shoe manufacturers such as Puma, Nike, and New Balance had already stopped using kangaroo leather.
As reported by World Animal News, the production of kangaroo leather is associated with nighttime hunts where adult animals and orphans are killed. “Every night, hundreds of thousands of kangaroos, including mothers with young, are shot in the Australian outback. Many die a slow, painful death, while surviving young are often bludgeoned or discarded.” Companies then export the hides worldwide, primarily to be made into high-quality soccer shoes and other leather goods.
How Adidas Responds to the Accusations
However, Adidas dismisses the accusation of committing cruel murders for “K-leather”—as kangaroo skin is also known. A company spokesperson stated in 2024, according to the dpa news agency: “We source the leather exclusively from suppliers monitored and certified by the Australian government to ensure both animal welfare and species protection.”2
However, Mick McIntyre from the Australian animal protection organization “Kangaroos Alive” explains that this is not so easy to control. “Kangaroos are not bred. The commercial killing takes place in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. Regulating the industry is almost impossible.”3
The Issue with the Kangaroo Plague
But why did many brands rely on kangaroo leather for so long? There are several reasons. It is said to be particularly stretchy, lightweight, and durable, according to some descriptions. It also feels very pleasant. But that’s not all: The population of marsupials in Australia was so large for a long time that it was even referred to as a plague. Specifically, estimates in 2019 put the number of kangaroos at about 45 million. That was almost twice the number of people living in Australia at the time.4
Therefore, in 2019, the animals were allowed to be culled in many areas. The goal was to bring the kangaroo population back to a “healthy level,” as the Ministry of Agriculture argued at the time. “Farmers need to be sure they are not overrun by kangaroos eating crops, competing with other animals for water and food, and damaging land,” the ministry stated.
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All a Matter of Perspective?
Therefore, many saw the use of kangaroo leather as sustainable and considered it a win-win situation. The animals were not just killed but also utilized. Kangaroo meat ended up in many supermarkets in Australia and has since become particularly popular for grilling. In some places, people also processed it into dog food. Manufacturers made K-leather from the skin, which they used for shoes and similar products. Many argued that this was a sustainable solution.
According to Pro Wildlife, hunters kill 1.6 million kangaroos annually. On their website, the animal protection organization explains that the hunting of marsupials is supposed to result in a quick and painless death by a headshot. In practice, however, the animals often suffer “a long death struggle from body shots.”
“When female kangaroos are killed, their dependent young are left behind and eventually starve or die of thirst.”5