It’s World Kangaroo Day! Support the Kangaroo Protection Act

October 24 is World Kangaroo Day–the perfect time to join our fight against the kangaroo trade in Australia. Learn more about the plight of kangaroos and how you can take action.

The complex lives of kangaroos

Kangaroos are sentient, intelligent creatures with rich social and emotional lives.

• Kangaroos live in dynamic groups called mobs that require navigating a complex web of ever-changing social relationships–while also having the ability to form and maintain long-term friendships.
• Female kangaroos stay with their mothers for life, forming deep emotional bonds.
• Kangaroos can communicate with humans, including asking for help–a complex cognitive behavior typically only associated with domesticated animals.

The cruelty of the kangaroo trade

Every year, the commercial kangaroo industry in Australia kills nearly 2 million kangaroos, driven largely by the demand for kangaroo leather in athletic footwear such as soccer cleats.

• This figure doesn’t include the brutal killing of up to 440,000 joeys (baby kangaroos) annually. The Australian Commercial Code permits the killing of joeys through blunt force trauma, and many are bludgeoned or decapitated after being pulled from their slain mothers’ pouches.

• Up to 40% of adult kangaroos are “mis-shot,” leaving them wounded and suffering before death.
• There is no effective monitoring of animal welfare during commercial kangaroo shoots, partly because they frequently take place at night in remote locations.
• Some justify the kangaroos’ death by claiming they cause environmental harm, but these claims are exaggerated. In fact, kangaroos have a smaller environmental footprint than domesticated livestock. They require less food and water, their paws cause less soil erosion, and their digestive processes result in lower emissions of the greenhouse gas methane.

Fortunately, major brands are already stepping away from kangaroo leather:

• Puma, Nike, Diadora, Adidas, and New Balance have all committed to ending the use of kangaroo skins, replacing them with synthetic alternatives that are cruelty-free and high-performing.
• Mizuno remains among the few holdouts.

The Kangaroo Protection Act

The Kangaroo Protection Act would ban the importation of kangaroo products into the United States for commercial use with the intent to sell. This would close a major market, helping eliminate some of the economic incentives driving the kangaroo trade and further encouraging industry-wide shifts toward synthetic materials.

While this bill has not been passed yet, there is hope that it can be in the near future. The U.S. has a history of standing against wildlife cruelty in global commerce, banning imports of seal pelts, harpooned whale meat, and dolphin products from Japan’s drive fisheries. Plus, California has had a ban on kangaroo leather since 1971, and New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Oregon, and Connecticut are considering doing the same. We’re currently working to get Pennsylvania on this list, too!

How you can take action

Join us in the fight to protect kangaroos:

• Sign our petition in support of the Kangaroo Protection Act.
• Find your representatives and urge them to cosponsor the Kangaroo Protection Act.
• Join HAP’s Action Team to help pass more bills that protect animals.