
According to National
Geographic, the Tibetan antelope produces short, warm fleece. As a result, it
is highly sought after by affluent buyers around the world. Shahtoosh is found
almost exclusively in the Chantang area of Tibet, on the Tibetan Plateau.
A minimum of four Tibetan
antelope are required to provide enough wool for just one scarf. The antelope
are wild, which means they can’t be domesticated and shorn. As a result, the
animals ar killed and also the wool is stripped from their carcasses. Afterward,
the poachers smuggle the raw wool into India, where artisans in Kashmir weave
it into scarves.
In the past century, global
demand for shahtoosh has wiped outnearly 90 percent of the Tibetan antelope
population, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN). Before the scarves became a fashion trend, they were a valued dowry
item in India. Now, they’re considered “exotic” and are sought after by
affluent Westerners. For the right size, color, and design, some folks will pay
up to $20,000 for a single shawl.

In Sweden, customs officials
regularly seize shahtoosh. In fact, between 2015 and 2018, the equivalent of
over 800 Tibetan bovid was appropriated. Most of the offenders were reportedly
from Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East. “Shahtoosh is one
in every of the most priorities for our workplace,” Robert Bruce Mathias
Lörtscher, the pinnacle of the team charged with implementing CITES in European
country, told National Geographic.
Recovery efforts to save the
Tibetan antelope became in the first decade of this century. China took lead by
providing better enforcement of the animal’s strict CITES listing, which bans
any international trade of the Tibetan antelope. In addition, China swollen
Chantang National Nature Reserve, the protected space in and around that the
animals.

That’s not all — in 2015,
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Chinese Academy of
Sciences classified Tibetan antelope as “near threatened” in the country’s
National Red List of Vertebrates. The following year, the IUCN downlisted the
animal from “endangered” to “near threatened.” Approximately 100,000 to 150,000
are estimated to remain in the wild.
Conservation efforts to
protect the Tibetan antelope exist. But, they alone are not enough. Conscious
readers like you need to take action and share this news to help put an end to
the trend of making $20,000 antelope wool shawls. Not only is killing four
animals for their wool inhumane, but it’s a trend that is best forgotten,
considering $20,000 could go a long way in curbing global issues, such as
poverty, homelessness, and inequality.
Comments
Post a Comment