Dive Brief:
- The Kangaroo Protection Act was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate Wednesday by Senators Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., according to a statement from Duckworth’s deputy press secretary.
- The legislation is intended to ban the sale and manufacturing of products made from kangaroo skin, also called “k-leather.” In addition, the bill would empower the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other agencies, to issue “civil and criminal penalties of fines up to $10,000 and other regulations,” per the statement.
- A previous version of the bill was introduced last year by both senators, but died in committee. In addition, a separate bill, called the Kangaroo Protection Act of 2025, was introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Brian K. Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., in March. Both the House and Senate bills are identical in their text and in what they would accomplish, per the statement.
Dive Insight:
K-leather has been used to manufacture high-end soccer cleats for decades. However, its use has fallen out of favor in recent years as information about the commercial harvesting of kangaroo hides created a backlash. In the statement announcing the bill, Duckworth’s office said the legislation was designed to protect kangaroos from the largest commercial slaughter in the world.
“When I first learned how widespread and brutal the kangaroo hunt is, I could hardly believe my ears,” Duckworth said in an email. “Australian law requires joeys to be bludgeoned to death, decapitated or shot if found in the pouch of a mother kangaroo. It’s barbaric — and by still allowing the sale of k-leather within our borders, our country is aiding and abetting the largest commercial slaughter of mammals in the world. That is completely unacceptable. We banned the sale of seal pelts in the U.S. over fifty years ago because it was similarly inhumane — it’s long past time we do the same for kangaroos.”
Athleticwear giants Puma, Nike and New Balance announced in 2023 that they would discontinue their use of k-leather, and in May of this year, Adidas and Asics followed suit. Earlier this month, Mizuno also said it would phase out its use of the material.
Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, said the kangaroo trade is driven by profits from the sale of kangaroo parts.
“Senator Duckworth’s bill is a tremendous complement to the decisions by all the big athletic shoe brands to halt sourcing of kangaroo skins for cleats and her measure has the potential to spare the lives of hundreds of thousands of the iconic marsupials every year,” Pacelle said in the release.
Booker, the Senate bill’s co-sponsor, said the legislation would help conserve the kangaroo species.
“We should not allow the unnecessary killing of animals just so that big corporations can maximize profits,” Booker said in the release.
