Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), also commonly called the chiru, is a medium sized antelope which is about four feet in height, native to the Tibetan plateau. The coat is grey to reddish-brown, with a white underside. The males have long, curved-back horns which measure about 20 inches in length.
Chirus are gregarious, sometimes congregating in herds hundreds strong. The females migrate yearly to calving grounds in the summer where they usually give birth to a single calf, and rejoin the males at the wintering grounds in late autumn. Chirus live on the high mountain steppes and semi-desert areas of the Tibetan plateau, where they feed on various forb and grass species. The average life span is about eight years.
Chirus are listed as endangered, mostly due to poaching for their wool. This wool, known as shahtoosh, is widely considered to be the finest and warmest in the world. The wool can only be obtained by killing the animal; Chiru numbers have dropped accordingly from nearly a million at the turn of the 20th century to less than 75,000 today. The numbers continue to drop yearly.
External Links
Animal Diversity Web (http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Pantholops-hodgsonii.html)
WWF (http://www.wwfus.org/buyerbeware/shahtoosh.cfm)
The chiru is endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
Over 7000 chirus in one population of females and newborns included 3.2% in herds of 2-50, 8% in herds of 51-100, 26.6% in herds of 101-500, and 62.2% in herds exceeding 500, with the largest including at least 1000.
Extremely wary by nature, the chiru is constantly on the alert and is hence difficult to approach.
The chiru's status is considered vulnerable by the IUCN (1996).
The chiru is threatened by hunting for its meat, magnificent horns, and soft, fine wool which is used to make the extremely (and unfortunately) chic shahtoosh scarves.
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