Last week I showed how we make leather jesses for our birds. The preferred material, especially for small raptors like our American Kestrel, is kangaroo leather. I was amazed when I first learned that - I didn't even know you could make leather from a kangaroo hide! Why do we use such an unusual material? The exotic leather is extremely strong while being lightweight.
I've always thought of that fact as just one of the peculiarities of working with raptors. But I recently started wondering exactly how kangaroo leather is made, and is it ethical to use products from Australia's most iconic animal?
In my initial Google searching, it was difficult to find unbiased data. PETA's website graphically describes the "cruel slaughter," while the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia (KIAA) touts their practice as "sustainable, humane, accountable, and valuable." Which viewpoint can I trust?
I first looked for a professional outside opinion: veterinarians, a trusted source for examining animal welfare. The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) looked at this issue and wrote an official statement:
‘The AVA supports the harvesting of kangaroos but this must be based on current scientific data on population and dynamics to ensure maintenance of viable ecosystems and population numbers and the killing method must be rapid and humane and carried out by trained skilled operators’
The humane dispatch makes sense, but what about the population data and ecological sustainability?
Kangaroos are prolific animals throughout Australia and benefited from European settlement. Just like White-tailed Deer in North America, land development allowed kangaroos to thrive. We have seen the effects of deer overpopulation here in Wisconsin with overgrazing limiting habitat functions. The Wisconsin DNR oversees the management of deer populations through research and establishing harvest quotas based on population data; Australian state governments do the same with kangaroos.
The KIAA describes how harvests benefit kangaroo conservation in this video:
These ideas are supported by information from the state governments. Commercial kangaroo management in New South Wales is based on population monitoring to establish harvest quotas that will not hurt the species as a whole. Their Management Plan is a 32-page document detailing the history, methods, and how quotas are established. This graph seemed particularly interesting to see the effects of hunting on kangaroo populations:
The first thing I noticed was that harvest quotas are only a small percentage (15%) of the entire population. And the actual numbers of kangaroos harvested is typically below that number. Since 1975, the overall kangaroo population has varied quite a bit, but seems to have a slightly upward trend over 40 years. Hunting appears to have little impact on population trends; the largest drops in numbers seem to be correlated more with dry periods (yellow areas).
The New South Wales plan also addresses animal welfare:
'All harvesters licenced through the Kangaroo Management Program are required to comply with the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes. Licenced harvesters are required to be accredited shooters and undergo competency testing every five years with the NSW Firearms Safety Training and Awareness Council. This testing ensures kangaroo harvesters can shoot humanely consistent with the National Code of Practice.'
So where does that leave me on this ethical issue? Like with deer in Wisconsin, I put my trust in the ecologists working with government agencies to manage these populations in a sustainable way. From what I can see, kangaroo harvests don't seem to have a negative impact on the populations as a whole. In terms of individual welfare, I was impressed with NSW's required training for hunters every five years. I am not a hunter myself, but those that I know have a high level of respect for the animals and I trust that kangaroo hunters have the motivation and skill to harvest humanely.
Will I continue to use kangaroo leather for Aldo's equipment? Yes. I feel the industry is likely humane and ecologically sustainable. If I was making purses or belts out of this leather, I would definitely consider other alternatives. But since this leather has the unique characteristics that Aldo needs, I feel confident using this unusual material.
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