New Delhi: China has refused to give Tibetan Antelopes to India for captive breeding to supply shahtoosh weavers in Jammu and Kashmir with shahtoosh wool. This was made public at a meeting of CITES Tiger Enforcement Task Force by the Chinese delegation, which is in India . The Chinese delegation’s reasons for this refusal substantiate the stand taken by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and its partner the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in their campaign to “Say no to shahtoosh” with the aim of conserving the Tibetan Antelope.

The Ministry of Textiles, Government of India is considering a proposal to breed Tibetan Antelope, also called chiru, in captivity. The underfleece of chiru is used to make shahtoosh shawls. The breeding of chiru in captivity is with the aim of supplying shahtoosh wool to weavers in the state of Jammu and Kashmir .

A door-to door survey of 50000 weavers conducted by WTI in 2002 revealed that less than 15000 workers in Srinagar depended on shahtoosh weaving as a means of livelihood. A report of this survey “Beyond the Ban” was made public with recommendations of an alternate means of livelihood and a geographical indicator tag to provide exclusivity to a high grade of pashmina as a viable alternative.

Owing to a representation of the Jammu and Kashmir government, the ministry of Textiles constituted a committee on 10 th January 2005 to consider if captive breeding of chiru can supply the wool to the shahtoosh weavers without killing the animal. Experts believe that four to five chiru are killed t o make one shahtoosh shawl.

Two meetings have been held. In these meetings, Dr A M Mir, Secy. General, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry repeatedly said that his demand is that the shahtoosh weaving should not stop and an alternative to shahtoosh is not acceptable to him. He refused to accept the evidence that shahtoosh wool is smuggled from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China , where chiru are killed in large numbers by poachers to smuggle the wool to India , where it reaches Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir .

Whether chiru can be bred in captivity is still under consideration of the committee. Scientific studies have shown that a small population of Tibetan Antelope numbering no more than 150 to 200 migrate to Chang Tang region of Ladakh in summer and return to TAR in winter. Chiru are a migratory species. Pregnant females travel long distances in hostile weather conditions to give birth at their calving grounds. Their breeding biology is however, not fully understood.

If chiru are bred in captivity for trade, obviously such a small population within the Indian border cannot sustain a trade that involves thousands of shahtoosh workers annually. A view was expressed during the Textile Committee meeting to ask China for breeding stock.

On May 17 th 2005 , during the meeting of the CITES Tiger Enforcement Task Force, a question was put to the Chinese government delegation whether China will agree to provide chiru stock to India . The Chinese delegation replied that there were two problems to such an idea:

1. The breeding biology of chiru is not known; they have never been kept under captive conditions and possibly cannot be kept captive. Not a single zoo in the world has a Tibetan Antelope. The animal can survive only at altitudes about 5000 m above msl and will die if brought to 3000m.

2. Captive breeding of an Appendix I species for commercial trade requires permission from the Conference of Parties (CoP) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Such proposals on other animals have not found favor in CITES and none have been approved by the 167 countries that are signatories to CITES.

Finally the Chinese delegation clearly stated that the answer is “NO” to the question of supplying Tibetan Antelopes for captive breeding in India.

Pix: William V Bleisch, CERS