A soaring trade in fashionable shawls is spelling doom for the Tibetan
antelope, despite a 20-year ban on trade. Poachers kill the animals to get their
ultra-fine fleece, known as shahtoosh. One animal yields 150 grams of fleece and
five animals are needed for a shawl. Karen Steuer of the International Fund for
Animal Welfare says shahtoosh poachers shoot 15 000 animals annually. There may
be only 50 000 animals left. CITES called on consumer countries to close down
the market.
Life
Shawls of shame
By Fred Pearce
29 April 2000
