Ques. 1AIPMT 2003
Which endangered animal is the source of the world's finest, lightest, warmest and most expensive wool - the shahtoosh ?
- Kashmiri goat
- Chiru
- Nilgai
- Cheetal
Answer
(2) Chiru
Solution
Shahtoosh wool is obtained from the fine underfur of the chiru (Tibetan antelope, Pantholops hodgsonii), which lives on the cold Tibetan plateau.
The animal has to be killed to obtain the wool, so over-exploitation for the shahtoosh trade made the chiru endangered, and trade in shahtoosh is now banned.
Pashmina (not shahtoosh) comes from the Kashmiri goat.
Answer: (2)