{"id":211,"date":"2014-01-21T06:14:43","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T06:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tibetnature.lhasocialwork.com\/en\/?p=211"},"modified":"2014-02-21T06:24:28","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T06:24:28","slug":"tibetan-antelope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/tibetan-antelope\/","title":{"rendered":"TIBETAN ANTELOPE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pantholops hodgsoni<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Physical Description<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Antelope is also known as the Chiru. Morphological characteristics and DNA analysis reveal that the Tibetan Antelope is most\u00a0closely related to the wild goats and sheep of the subfamily Caprinae. The Antelope\u2019s short, dense, woolly hair is fawn-coloured, and the\u00a0Antelope has black markings on its face and legs. Male Tibetan antelope have long, slender, ridged black horns that curve slightly backwards,\u00a0which they use to defend their harems against rivals during the rut. Horns measure 50 to 60 centimetres (19 to 23 inches) long.<\/p>\n

\"TIBETAN<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: www.china.org.cn<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Tibetan Antelope is virtually exclusive to the Tibetan Plateau. The Antelope has evolved special characteristics that enable it to withstand\u00a0cold climates and high altitudes. To keep out the cold, the Tibetan Antelope has a unique downy undercoat called shahtoosh (which is Persian\u00a0for \u201cthe king of wool\u201d). The Antelope\u2019s nostrils are filled with air sacs that help the Antelope to breathe, giving its muzzle a swollen appearance.<\/p>\n

The Tibetan Antelope\u2019s light and nimble body and the Antelope\u2019s increased capacity for breathing, due to the air sacs in its nostrils, make the\u00a0Antelope a remarkable runner. Despite the thin atmosphere on the high plateau, the Antelope can run up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles\u00a0per hour).<\/p>\n

Male antelope stand 80 to 85 centimetres (31 to 33 inches) tall at the shoulder, while female antelope stand about 75 centimetres (30 inches)\u00a0tall. Males weigh 35 to 40 kilograms (77 to 88 pounds). Females weigh 25 to 30 kilograms (55 to 66 pounds).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Habitat<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Antelope favors alpine steppes and similar semi-arid habitats. However, the Antelope may also seasonally occupy desert steppes and\u00a0other arid areas. The Tibetan Antelope may be found at elevations as low as 3,250 metres (10,700 feet), but most of its range lies above 4000\u00a0metres (13,100 feet), where the mean annual temperature is four degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit). In northern Ladakh, the Antelope\u00a0can be found as high as 5,500 metres (18,000 feet).<\/p>\n

The Tibetan Antelope primarily inhabits the Tibetan Plateau (although about 200 migrate to Ladakh during the summer months). The great\u00a0herds of 15,000 antelope or more that Western explorers reported a century ago are now gone, but herds of 1,000 or more can still be seen. The\u00a0Antelope\u2019s habitat range has contracted in Central and eastern Tibet. The largest Tibetan antelope populations survive in the Chang Tang region\u00a0of northwestern Tibet, in southern Xinjiang, and in Amdo in northeastern Tibet. There are a number of both migratory and resident\u00a0populations of antelope in these regions. The Tibetan Antelope\u2019s habitat range overlaps with the Chang Tang, Arjin Shan, Kekexili, and the\u00a0Sanjiangyuan (\u201cSource of Three Rivers\u201d) Nature Reserves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eating Habits<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Antelope is a grazer and possibly a browser, feeding on grasses and herbs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behaviour and Reproduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Male Tibetan antelope have several movement patterns. In late April or May, most 10 to 11 month-old males separate from their mothers to join\u00a0their juvenile male peers or adult males. A few of the male antelope remain resident on their winter grounds throughout the summer, but most\u00a0travel at least a short distance, usually north, from their winter grounds to a summer range. Some male Tibetan antelope travel far in the summer.<\/p>\n

Males return to their traditional fall and winter grounds in autumn, for the rut. As a result of these diverse movement patterns, male antelope,\u00a0in contrast to females, tend to be dispersed widely throughout the Tibetan Antelope\u2019s habitat range during the summer.<\/p>\n

Female Tibetan antelope probably first conceive at the age of 1.5 or 2.5 years, and give birth at the age of two to three years. The gestation period\u00a0of the Tibetan Antelope is seven to eight months. Antelope mothers give birth between the second half of June and early July, each mother\u00a0typically to just one offspring. The life span of the Tibetan Antelope in the wild is eight years or more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Present Status<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tibetan Antelope is categorized as Endangered in the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is listed under Appendix I of CITES.\u00a0The Tibetan Antelope is under second class protection in China, is legally protected in Nepal, and is included in Schedule II, Part I of the Indian\u00a0Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972. Jammu and Kashmir State in India, which has its own set of laws, in August 2002 finally placed the Tibetan\u00a0Antelope under Schedule I of the Jammu and Kashmir (Wildlife) Protection Act, banning the trade and use of Tibetan antelope derivatives.<\/p>\n

It is estimated that the Tibetan Antelope\u2019s population has declined to approximately 50% of its original size. The Chinese State Forestry\u00a0Administration estimate that 65,000 to 75,000 of the animals remain, and that poaching claims the lives of approximately 20,000 Tibetan\u00a0antelope per year. At these rates, the Tibetan Antelope could be driven to extinction within the next five years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Threats to Survival<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though Tibetan cultural practices traditionally discouraged hunting, Tibetans formerly hunted the Tibetan Antelope on a subsistence basis,\u00a0principally for food, using traps, dogs, and muzzle-loading rifles. Since then, poaching has become the most serious threat to the Antelope\u2019s\u00a0survival. The use of Tibetan Antelope horn has been documented in traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine, but medicinal use accounts for\u00a0<\/span>a minority of the poaching of the Antelope. The main reason the Tibetan Antelope is being slaughtered illegally, in the thousands, is to obtain\u00a0its shahtoosh undercoat.<\/p>\n

Shahtoosh is finer, softer, and warmer than lambswool, or even cashmere, and as such, it is considered to be one of the most luxurious animal\u00a0fibres in the world. The demand for shahtoosh fuels a lucrative illegal trade, which begins with poachers in Tibet, crosses over to India, and ends\u00a0in the fashion centres of the world (including Hong Kong, Tokyo, and cities in North America and Europe). Shahtoosh is usually smuggled into\u00a0India via Nepal and transported to Jammu and Kashmir State, where the shahtoosh is woven into shawls.<\/p>\n

Tibetan antelope pelts sell for up to US$80 apiece; prices of pure shahtoosh, in contrast, range from US$1,500 to over US$2,000 per kilogram.\u00a0A single shahtoosh shawl, for which three to five antelope must be killed, typically sells for US$2,000 to US$8,000, but may sell for as much\u00a0as US$15,000, depending upon the shawl\u2019s size and quality. Shahtoosh shawls were traditionally called \u201cring shawls\u201d because they are so fine\u00a0that they can be passed through a woman\u2019s wedding ring. Shahtoosh may also be bartered for tiger and leopard bones and pelts, bear gall\u00a0bladders, and musk pods, fueling a deadly two-way trade in endangered species products.<\/p>\n

Other threats to the Tibetan Antelope and its habitat include: fencing and the encroachment of the Antelope\u2019s grazeland by pastoralists, which\u00a0interferes with the Antelope\u2019s migration and foraging; extractive activities, including oil drilling and gold mining; and increasing human\u00a0settlement. The Antelope may compete with livestock for forage where their ranges overlap.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

International Campaign for Tibet, 26 August 2002: Kashmir Bans Shahtoosh Product to Protect Endangered Tibetan Antelope, http:\/\/<\/p>\n

www.savetibet.org\/News\/News.cfm?ID=1278&c=6, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

Nowak, R.M., 1999: Walker\u2019s Mammals of the World, The John Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, MD.<\/p>\n

Mallon, D.P., 2003: Pantholops hodgsonii. In: IUCN, 2003: 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http:\/\/www.redlist.org, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

Schaller, George B., 1998: Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, The University of Chicago Press, London, 80pp.<\/p>\n

By: Environment and Development Desk, DIIR, CTA.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pantholops hodgsoni Physical Description The Tibetan Antelope is also known as the Chiru. Morphological characteristics and DNA analysis reveal that the Tibetan Antelope is most\u00a0closely related to the wild goats and sheep of the subfamily…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mammals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}