Blood Feathers: Investigating the Ostrich Feather Industry
In collaboration with:
TRACKS Investigations worked with World Animal Protection on a major investigation into the ostrich feather industry and its links to the global fashion supply chain.
Conducted across 2024, 2025 and 2026, the project combined extensive desk-based research with investigative fieldwork in South Africa, the world's dominant supplier of ostrich products.
The research examined the complex supply chain connecting ostrich farms and feather producers with the international fashion industry. Supplier information, trade data and industry sources were analysed to identify key companies, farms and facilities and build a clearer picture of an industry where transparency and traceability are extremely limited.
Investigative fieldwork was subsequently carried out in South Africa's Western Cape, the centre of the country's ostrich farming industry.
The investigation documented serious animal welfare concerns, including evidence of live plucking and the cutting and removal of feathers from restrained birds. Injuries, stress-related behaviour and other welfare problems were also recorded on commercial farms.
The findings were published in September 2026 in Blood Feathers: An Investigation into the Ostrich Feather Industry, produced by World Animal Protection and Collective Fashion Justice.
Extensive International Media Coverage
The release of Blood Feathers generated extensive international media coverage, reaching audiences across Africa, Europe, Asia, North and South America, Australia and the Middle East.
The investigation was reported by international news agencies AFP and ANP, with coverage appearing in publications including The Australian, CTV News, The Star, IOL, Africanews and FashionNetwork, alongside further editorial reporting in TRT Afrika, Metrópoles and NRC.
The coverage brought the investigation's findings to international audiences and increased scrutiny of the fashion industry's use of ostrich feathers.
From Investigation to Impact
The international response to Blood Feathers demonstrates how specialist investigative work can expose hidden practices and provide animal protection organisations with credible evidence to challenge powerful industries.
Through its collaboration with World Animal Protection and Collective Fashion Justice, TRACKS helped bring the realities of ostrich feather production into international public view, generating widespread media attention and contributing to growing scrutiny of the fashion industry's use of animal-derived materials.
Tracks Investigations has undertaken over 300 investigative film projects supporting over 40 animal protection NGOs since its inception in 2006. Learn more about how you can work with us here. To support our investigative work for animals, click here.