Each day you open your facebook account, you see unfortunate news. And one of them is that, earth has lost approximately half of its wildlife creatures. One animal under threat is the Tibetan antelope. Reportedly, Westerners are paying $20,000 for one shawl, or shahtoosh, made from the threatened species.
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 Plateu.
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 are killed and 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 Sweden, customs officials regularly seize shahtoosh. In fact, between 2015 and 2018, the equivalent of more than 800 Tibetan antelope was seized. Most of the offenders were reportedly from Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East.
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 expanded Chantang National Nature Reserve, the protected area in and around which the animals calve.
Its peak time that, IUCN take serious actions to stop these illegal trades and killing of animals. No animal breed is left from these barbaric act of horror. Killing them for our luxurious need is no kind act.
