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New Film Highlights Battle To Save Tibetan Antelope
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Tibetan antelope, or chiru
©WCS/George Schaller
| Its luxurious wool—also known as shahtoosh—is famous in high fashion circles around the world. But few know that the source of this fine fabric is the gravely endangered Tibetan antelope, or chiru. The plight of this graceful creature was first brought to light in the 1990s by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s director for science, Dr. George Schaller. During his surveys of the windswept Tibetan plateau, Schaller discovered that large-scale poaching had nearly decimated the chiru population. Consumer demand for shahtoosh scarves in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. has reduced the wild population to an estimated 75,000 or fewer. In recent years, poachers are killing as many as 20,000 annually.
On March 30, 2006, WCS and other conservationists finally won a battle in the long fight to save the Tibetan antelope. The US Fish & Wildlife Service formally announced that the species would receive protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The new listing makes it illegal to sell shahtoosh across state lines.
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Dr. George Schaller
©WCS/W.B. Karesh
| “This little-known animal has been internationally protected for nearly three decades, but that has not deterred poachers from killing the chiru for its valuable wool, nor has it dissuaded wealthy shoppers from purchasing shahtoosh shawls,” said Dr. Schaller. With the new listing, “the United States has made a real commitment to helping ensure the future of this beautiful species.”
WCS is proud to support an exciting new film from National Geographic World Films and Samuel Goldwyn Films that will chronicle the plight of the chiru and the efforts to save it. Mountain Patrol: Kekexili is a remarkable adventure based on true events surrounding illegal Tibetan antelope poaching in Kekexili, a vast and isolated region of China. Directed by Lu Chuan on the exquisite Tibetan Plateau, Mountain Patrol follows a band of brave volunteers as they face adversity and peril to save endangered Tibetan antelope from outlaw hunters. The film opens in select theaters starting April 14.
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