 |
|||||
|
|
||||
|
|
|||||
By Deepa Das NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (IPS) - Thousands of the highly endangered Tibetan antelope are being slaughtered every year to provide the world of high fashion one of its most expensive accessories -- the fine 'shahtoosh' shawl.
Shahtoosh is the down of the Tibetan antelope or 'chiru' as it is more commonly known. This graceful animal is endemic to the trans-Himalayan high plains of China and Tibet.
A few herds of not more than 200 can be found in Ladakh in northern India. Across the border in China and Tibet, on the other hand, there are a few herds of 2,000 or so animals -- a greatly depleted figure compared to the 20,000 in the 1940s.
The animal is listed among the highly endangered in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The word 'shahtoosh'' is a combination of 'shah' or king and 'tush' or wool -- the king of wool. It is removed by shearing or combing the hides of dead 'chiru', which increasingly has become the favoured means. A full grown animal yields about 125 to 150 grammes of wool.
These and a number of other shocking facts about shahtoosh have been revealed in 'Fashioned for Extinction', a report on the illegal, but thriving trade between three Himalayan countries.
The report, published by the New Delhi-based NGO, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), was released last week in the Indian capital.
The WPSI report faithfully follows the journey of shahtoosh from the icy plains of Tibet to the handlooms of Srinagar where the wool is metamorphosed into shahtoosh shawls.
According to investigations conducted by the organisation, the bulk of shahtoosh is smuggled into Kashmir through the porous borders of Nepal. The smuggling is further facilitated by customs authorities' ignorance about the wool. More often than not, shahtoosh is passed off as pashmina, the wool of pashmina goats that is shorn for trade by Tibetan nomads in the high Himalayas.
Once raw shahtoosh reaches India, it is transported by land, rail or air by a network of specialised smugglers either directly to Srinagar, the capital city of Kashmir, or via Delhi, where it is sold to Kashmiri traders.
The wool is spun and woven only in Srinagar and the shawls are then shipped to shops throughout India and to fashion outlets worldwide.
Significantly, shahtoosh is often bartered by smugglers from Tibet for tiger parts. Tiger parts are an essential ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, and trade in the contraband is very lucrative. Experts fear the striped cat, which has already become extinct in parts of Asia, may not survive very far into the next century in the Indian subcontinent, its last home in the wild.
The WPSI report states that Leh, the principal town of Ladakh, has long been a key, and illegal wildlife market.
According to the report ''... a large community of Tibetan refugees living 10 km south of Leh have direct access to the nomads of Chang Thang (part of the Tibetan plateau). ... goods such as tiger parts, bear gall bladder and musk are passed to Tibetan nomads who take them to their high altitude camps and then across the border into Tibet. With the lure of huge profits, shahtoosh is the favoured bartering item.''
The ''lure of huge profits'' is quite considerable. While raw shahtoosh can be priced anywhere between 1,000 dollars and 1,800 dollars, a pure shahtoosh shawl in the international market can cost up to 20,000 dollars. In fact, the report surmises that after the barter of tiger bones in Tibet and the sale of raw wool in India, a trader can make a profit of as much as 600 percent.
Despite a global CITES ban on trade in shahtoosh and shahtoosh products, shawls of this wool are available openly in practically every major city in India. They are exported and marketed illegally throughout the world.
The shawls are smuggled out of India in various ways. The report states that one of the common methods is hiding the shahtoosh shawls in a shipment of other shawls marked as ''woolen goods''. A larger order of shahtoosh shawls, states the report ''is usually taken abroad by a trader or his representatives packed amongst other items in a suitcase.''
The report goes on to disclose that in a rapid survey conducted by WPSI in October 1997, even the 'Kashmir Government Arts Emporium' in New Delhi had seven shahtoosh shawls in stock, with prices ranging from 1,000 dollars to 3,000 dollars.
In its recommendations, the report points out that the ''unhealthily healthy'' shahtoosh trade is a consequence of total ignorance of consumers and, in some cases, even retailers of shahtoosh shawls.
It also voices its concern over the shahtoosh-tiger bone connection and asks both concerned governments and consumers to discourage the use of shawls that are soaked in the blood of a harmless antelope. (End/IPS/dd/an/97)
