Kashmir's Pashmina goats at risk

By Altaf Hussein
BBC News, Srinagar

Pashmina goats' wool is prized for its warmth and softness
Tens of thousands of goats that provide the wool for Kashmir's world famous Pashmina shawls are facing death because of unexpectedly cold weather.

Winter pastures used by the Pashmina goats in the Ladakh region of Indian-administered Kashmir have been covered in snow, officials say.

Fodder provided by the government has also reportedly run out of stock.

Embroidered shawls made from Pashmina wool are among Kashmir's best-known handicrafts and are exported worldwide.

Many regard Pashmina wool as the finest in the world after that of the chiru antelope, also found in the northern Himalayas.

International trade in shahtoosh shawls made from the wool of the chiru, or Tibetan antelope, has been banned to protect the endangered species.

Airdrop request

According to Tsering Dorjay, a Ladakh development officer, some 150,000 Pashmina goats had been affected by the shortage of food.

Of these, 100,000 goats were at risk of death if fodder could not be provided immediately.

Unusually this year, winter pastures in the Changthang area, bordering China, had been covered in snow, officials said.

Moreover, they said stocks of winter fodder provided by the administration had already been exhausted.

The problem facing the Pashmina goats was brought to the authorities' attention by nomads who had travelled by foot to a district office.

Local officials have asked India's defence ministry to airdrop fodder into areas which are cut off by heavy snowfalls.

The administration is also short of lorries to rush emergency supplies to areas that remain accessible by road.

Locust invasion

The Pashmina goats grow a fleece during the winter to cope with adverse weather.

Malnourishment and exceptionally cold conditions have hit them hard this year.

"The pregnant goats have been having miscarriages and the young ones, up to one-year-old, have been dying because of the cold," Mr Dorjay says.

Even before the unexpected snowfall, the Changthang area was facing a shortage of grass in the pastures because of an invasion of locusts over the past three years.

Concern for the welfare of the rare black-necked crane led to wildlife department restrictions on the spraying of insecticides.

Pashmina has a unique place in Kashmir's handicrafts industry.

Shawls woven and embroidered in Kashmir valley are exported to Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Once i heard about pashmina!

Govt of india and GOP are fighting over acquiring patents on pashmina

india says pashmina is mainly found in indian kashmir!!

pak say:why dont u add our kashmir!!we also have some 20-30% of top pashmina variety..

so they are fighting for patent...

Coming back to problem:

kashmir govt in india must look into real prob to save this species..GOI is announcing a relief package of 2-3 billion $ for kashmir,to support sustainable development as the terrorism is on decline in valley.

trueindia wrote:

Once i heard about pashmina!

Govt of india and GOP are fighting over acquiring patents on pashmina

india says pashmina is mainly found in indian kashmir!!

pak say:why dont u add our kashmir!!we also have some 20-30% of top pashmina variety..

so they are fighting for patent...

Coming back to problem:

kashmir govt in india must look into real prob to save this species..GOI is announcing a relief package of 2-3 billion $ for kashmir,to support sustainable development as the terrorism is on decline in valley.

lol here we slip again from the silky shawls of pashmina to so called "Kashmiri Terrorism". See this is why I always say that Pakistan and India should resolve problem of kashmir before talking about any kind of peace, cooperation or anything. Everything between Pakistan and India sticks at the bottleneck of Kashmir. Trade relations are secondary, primary issues are the defence of ideologies.

i meant militancy is on decline..

BUt if you think, a problem which has india ,pak made fight 3 wars.
india had spent 100 billion $ on kashmir..
indian army has lost 10000-15000 army soldiers in just fightng some 15000 militants...

but now things are better...and its no for us to decide...people are meetin on minister level..

There are various meeting held..
and at present ,pak is going through election/.
and taliban in pak is another prob..

so we all cant expect to solve it in a 1 day...

its not some khir eating...it will take 10 years to solve this problem.

Kashmir is the part of Pakistan