P.M. BRIEFING : Elephants Get a Reprieve: Boot Maker Won’t Go After Their Hides

Acme Boot Co., the world’s largest boot manufacturer, today announced it will stop making boots with elephant skin because of the outrage of animal lovers.

Lu Honig, director of purchasing for Acme, said the company has stopped buying elephant skins, even though the ones it had purchased were from animals legally killed in Africa. “We have some skins in our inventory and will run these out in the next 90 days,” Honig said.

Environmentalists are angry because hunters are killing elephants for their tusks and leaving their bodies to rot. “This is the kind of uncontrolled kill that has caused many of us to take a public stand on the issue,” Honig said.

Elephant-skin boots are less than 1% of Acme’s production. The company’s exotic boot line also includes ostrich, snake, lizard, alligator and eel-skin boots.

Acme executive Michael Vogel said he expects a positive response to the ban. “The awareness level on this issue has heightened even in the last year,” he said. “We hope other boot makers will join us in this effort.”