IFAW welcomes Kashmir ban on Shahtoosh production
Endangered Tibetan Antelope now protected worldwide

LONDON (02-JUN-00) -- International efforts to protect the highly endangered Tibetan antelope moved a step forward this week when the Indian province of Kashmir announced a ban on the production of shahtoosh shawls -- woven from the fine wool of illegally hunted and highly endangered Tibetan antelopes. The ban is supported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW -- www.ifaw.org) which has been campaigning worldwide for greater protection of Tibetan antelopes and an end to the illegal shahtoosh trade.

International trade in Tibetan antelope products, including shahtoosh shawls, have been illegal since 1975 under the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which India is a signatory. Since then, the Indian province of Kashmir had exempted itself from the international trade ban.

The change in law to ban shahtoosh trade in Kashmir comes in the wake of a successful anti-trade lawsuit in Jammu-Kashmir High Court filed by the Wildlife Protection Society of India. Kashmir now has to implement all international agreements signed by India including CITES.

Tibetan Antelope, also known as chiru, inhabit only the remote plateaus of Tibet, and Xinjiang and Qinghai provinces of China. The Tibetan antelope population has dropped from several million one hundred years ago to less than 75,000 today. Thousands of Tibetan antelope are gunned down by poachers every year. They live in herds and are easy prey for the poachers on the open plains. Poachers also target the antelopes' breeding grounds, killing nursing females, leaving their young to starve.

This year alone, the Chinese Authorities have confiscated hundreds of pelts and thousands of rounds of poachers' ammunition. Armed poaching gangs greatly out-number the anti-poaching patrol staff, who often risk their lives to protect the Tibetan antelope.

The illegal market and high prices paid for shahtoosh fuel the illegal international trade. Pelts are smuggled from the Tibetan Plateau in China to India's Kashmir province, where shahtoosh shawls are woven. The shawls are then illegally transported to Delhi and exported to the world fashion centres of London, New York, Paris and Milan where they continue to be sold illegally on the Internet and at private gatherings. IFAW is working with the fashion industry to spread the message that shahtoosh shawls are not only illegal but are driving the Tibetan Antelope to extinction.

Sarah Tyack Endangered Species Campaigner for IFAW said, "Despite an international ban on shahtoosh trade, the Kashmir weaving industry has continued to produced shahtoosh shawls, creating an international demand for them. This has placed the Tibetan antelope dangerously close to the brink of extinction. By banning production, the Kashmir government has taken a great step towards protecting this rare antelope and giving it a chance to survive. IFAW welcomes this action and also applauds the government for its plans to rehabilitate its existing shahtoosh weaving industry. Our hope now is that the poachers will get the message and stop killing the Tibetan antelope."

NOTES TO EDITORS [1] Shahtoosh is Persian for "the king of wool" and is ultra-fine with a softer feel than cashmere or angora. Shahtoosh shawls are also known as ring shawls as they can be passed through a finger ring. The cost of these shawls normally varies between £1-5,000. [2] CITES banned all trade in Tibetan antelope, also known as chiru, worldwide in 1975. In Britain and the USA it is a criminal offence to buy, sell or import shahtoosh. In February 1997 the UK's Metropolitan Police Wildlife Unit seized 138 shahtoosh shawls worth £353,000 from a London trading company. In April 2000, the company pled guilty and was fined. In the United States last year a number of the fashion elite including model Christy Brinkley were obliged by US wildlife authorities to explain where they had illegally obtained their shahtoosh shawls. [3] The illegal trade in chiru pelts is also linked to the illegal trade in tiger parts. Traffickers carry tiger parts from India to China and trade their contraband for shahtoosh, which they can sell back in India.

CONTACT: Sarah Tyack, Endangered Species Campaigner IFAW UK: 44-20 7587 6713; (Mobile) 44-7801 613 530

Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell, IFAW Headquarters USA: Tel: 508-744-2076; Mobile 508-737-1584

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