Ostrich feathers are popular with both luxury fashion and fast fashion. This trend is not as harmless as people often claim, because ostrich feathers do not just fall out. Revealing undercover footage from South Africa shows ostriches being hunted, secured and sacked over their heads, then their feathers are cut off and the shafts are pulled out of the skin with forceps without anaesthesia to stimulate the production of new feathers.
Contrary to what many people think, ostrich feathers do not fall out by themselves but are 'harvested' in a cruel way from the animals. Collective Fashion Justice and World Animal Protection conducted a joint investigation into commercial ostrich farms in South Africa and published the report Blood Feathers (pdf).
The cruel origin of ostrich feathers
The images show, among other things, how employees corner and immobilize an ostrich. The employees cut off the feathers harshly and pull the spring shafts out of the skin with pliers to accelerate the growth of new feathers. This is done without anesthesia or pain relief, which causes a lot of suffering to the animals.
The researchers also found several immature 'blood feathers', which caused severe bleeding and pain when removed:
"These images show what ostriches are done to out of sight of consumers for the benefit of a fashion trend. We hope that the research will wake up both consumers and the fashion industry.".
Ostriches do not moult en masse
Ostriches do not have a massive moulting period in which large amounts of feathers are released at once. Yet international research shows that 47 percent of consumers think that ostrich feathers have fallen out on their own. That 'natural' yield would not be able to cover the demand. In 2024-2025, South Africa exported more than 150,000 kilos of ostrich feathers, worth more than 50 million euros. South Africa produces about 75 percent of all ostrich products worldwide.
No residual product
Ostrich feathers are also not a residual product of the meat industry. According to the researchers, feathers are a primary source of income for so-called 'feather farms'. Ostriches kept for 'high-quality feathers' (suitable for the fashion industry) can be cut or plucked over and over again for years – and then still end up in the slaughterhouse.
No fur, but ostrich feathers?
The South African feathers examined go to major fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent. Fast fashion brand SHEIN and other mass fashion names are also customers. While many big names do have a policy against fur, ostrich feathers are often not part of the policy, according to the researchers. Collective Fashion Justice and World Animal Protection are calling on the fashion industry to make concrete plans for phasing out ostrich feathers and other materials derived from wild animals.
Source:
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