Nike has stated that it would end the use of Kangaroo skins for its shoes this year and this is coming several weeks after a similar move by German sportswear manufacturing brand, PUMA.
This would stop a hugely contentious practice which has in the past put both brands at loggerheads with consumers and animal rights activists.
Nike becomes the latest brand to halt using Kangaroo leather in the production of shoes, the Sportswear organization released a statement saying it “will stop making any product with kangaroo leather in 2023”.
It would launch a fresh version of its popular football boot, the Tiempo Legend Elite, with a fresh synthetic material “that is a better performance solution and replaces the use of kangaroo leather”.
In the United States Of Oregon, a bill that would halt the sale of Kangaroo parts was initiated and Oregon in America is where Nike has its headquarters.
The goal of that move is targeted at Sportswear manufacturers and that Bill would make the buying, selling, receiving or exchanging any product commercially that includes a part of a dead Kangaroo criminal.
A comparable bill has been instituted in Connecticut and California approving a ban on Kangaroo-based products in the 1970s.
Nike and PUMA joined Varsace and Prada in the list of companies that have stopped using Kangaroo skin for their works.
The President of the centre for a Humane Economy, Wayne Pacelle, said in a statement: “Nike’s announcement that it will end use of kangaroo skins for its athletic shoes is a seismic event in wildlife protection, and tremors will be felt all over the world, especially in Australia where the mass commercial slaughter of kangaroos occurs. ”
Mick McIntyre, the Co-founder and director of Kangaroos Alive also had his owns thoughts on this, he said: “Nike and Puma are doing the right thing.
“They are saying, we don’t want to be part of this inhumane slaughter of this international icon.”
Mick stated that Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry was “cruel and barbaric”.
“Kangaroos aren’t farmed. Commercial killing is done in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. The regulation of the industry is almost impossible.”
However, the harvest of Kangaroo for commercial purposes is legal in Australia and conservation experts in the past have previously given caution that bans could result in worse outcomes for Kangaroos due to high population.
The president of the Kangaroo industry association of Australia, Ray Borda stated that Nike’s ban was a move towards synthetic options, other than a move away from Kangaroo.
“It is a cyclical trend, We have other shoe manufacturers that have increasing demand due to the environmental benefits of kangaroo leather.”
Borda also said: “They emit less methane, require less water, place less pressure on grazing lands, and don’t require energy to capture and contain.”
Borda stated that the commercial market was needed in order to maintain and manage the number of Kangaroos in existence, so as to safeguard the species continuity.
“As kangaroo populations fluctuate in different conditions, they compete with each other and other animals for food, and put stress on agricultural land,” Ray Borda said.
“Without a commercial harvest, kangaroos would still need to be kept at sustainable levels through government and non-commercial culling, resulting in poorer animal welfare outcomes.”
