Kangaroo leather is a strong light weight

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

derived from the hide of the

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

. Kangaroos are harvested. Both the

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

and the hides are sold. Although hunting most species of macropod is prohibited, a small number of the large-sized species with high populations can be hunted by commercial hunters. This policy has been criticised by some wildlife activists.

Applications

The leather is used in a wide variety of shoes. The unique structure of kangaroo leather allows it to be cut down to be very thin, but still retain strength. Kangaroo leather is also popular in the manufacture of motorbike leathers and is used for many other applications such as car upholstery, military, football, and soccer boots, and fashion accessories. Kangaroo leather is the material of choice for making whips, as the strips can be cut thin to keep the whip flexible, without sacrificing durability.

Properties

Studies conducted by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) confirm that kangaroo is one of the strongest leathers of similar substance available. When split thinly, kangaroo leather retains considerably more of the original tensile strength of the unsplit leather than does calf leather. When split to 20% of original thickness kangaroo retains 30 to 60% of the tensile strength of the unsplit hide. Calf split to 20% of original thickness, on the other hand, retains only 1–4% of original strength. Kangaroo leather is lighter and stronger than the hide of a cow or goat. It has 10 times the tensile strength of

cowhide Cowhide is the natural, unbleached skin and hair of a cow. It retains the original coloring of the animal. Cowhides are a product of the food industry from cattle. Cowhide is frequently processed into leather. Process Once a cow has been killed ...

and is 50% stronger than goatskin. Studies of the morphology of kangaroo leather help explain its particular properties. The collagen fibre bundles in cattle hide are arranged in a complex weaving pattern. The fibres are often at angles as much as 90 degrees to the skin surface. Cattle hide also contains sweat glands, erector pili muscles and a distinct gradation in

elastin Elastin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ELN'' gene. Elastin is a key component of the extracellular matrix in gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). It is highly elastic and present in connective tissue allowing many tissues in the bod ...

levels, concentrated in the upper part of the skin. Kangaroo hide on the other hand has been shown to have a highly uniform orientation of fibre bundles in parallel with the skin surface. It does not contain sweat glands or erector pili muscles, and elastin is evenly distributed throughout the skin thickness. This structural uniformity explains both the greater tensile strength of the whole leather and the greater retention of strength in splits. Bovine skin is much more complex in cross-section; in whole section it has many more weak points from which tears can start when placed under tension. In addition, when split the collagen fibres running at significant angles to the skin surface will be cut, becoming weak points.

Environmental aspects

The Australian kangaroo industry produces a range of meat and leather products from animals harvested from the wild under strict government-controlled management plans intended to ensure that the harvest is sustainable and humane. A wide cross section of Australian ecologists support the kangaroo industry as being both sustainable and environmentally wise. Many argue that kangaroos, native to Australia, are a more environmentally friendly livestock option than introduced sheep and cattle.FATE Program The two most important facets of kangaroos' better ecological fit than European agricultural animals relate to their adaptation to Australia's aridity. Kangaroos have small chest development and so require less water to breathe than placental mammals, which usually must expand a

diaphragm Diaphragm may refer to: Anatomy * Thoracic diaphragm, a thin sheet of muscle between the thorax and the abdomen * Pelvic diaphragm or pelvic floor, a pelvic structure * Urogenital diaphragm or triangular ligament, a pelvic structure Other * Diap ...

, losing more moisture in respiration. Kangaroos just make small pants while immobile, and in motion expand and contract their lungs effectively using their leg muscles. The belly flops up, contracting the lungs, and down, expanding them. The kangaroo's paws are softer and do not compact the ground as hoofed cattle and sheep do. Instead, its hopping leaves very small bowl-shaped depressions in the surface of even dry clay soil, which let native grass seeds carried on the wind settle into them. The bowl shape concentrates any moisture that may fall into it into a wet point that the grass seed can use to germinate. Thus, kangaroos deplete the water table more slowly than cattle or sheep, and would even be viable in the absence of any

bore water An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

. The ecological arguments for kangaroos replacing sheep and cattle as arid land livestock are compelling, though they must be set against objections of kangaroos' lack of domestication and breeding rate. Kangaroos are eaten in most states.

References

{{Leather Leathermaking Leather Industry in Australia Macropods

Applications

Properties

Environmental aspects

See also

References