Depilation is one of the important operations in the pre-tanning processes of leather manufacture. The hair or wool recovered by the liming process is not good as it is damaged by the high alkalinity and the strong action of the sulfides. Moreover, dissolved sulfides and pulped hair contribute to a high COD and BOD of the effluent. The disposal of the effluent from beamhouse operations poses a major problem to the leather industry because of the large volume of water used in the different processes. Hence, several attempts are being made to rationalize the depilation processes using enzymes and enzymatic products in place of caustic chemicals. The details of proteolytic enzymes from various sources viz. animal, plant, and microbial sources and the use of immobilized enzymes have been discussed. The advantages of microbial proteases over proteases from animal and plant sources have been highlighted. The mode of application of enzymes in depilation has been described. The role of alkaline treatment in enzymatic depilation, the mechanism of depilation and the advantages of enzymatic unhairing are detailed. -- AATA