Captive breeding of Chiru not possible

Captive breeding of chiru is not a  feasible idea because  the animal doesn't thrive in captivity, the Union environment and forest ministry has informed a panel of parliamentarians.

Chiru is  an endangered species of Tibetan antelope found in the upper reaches of the Himalayas in Ladakh.

The green ministry was responding to  a House panel's earlier recommendation of breeding the antelope for a regular supply of their under-fur, the shahtoosh, to the weavers in Kashmir  to make shawls of very high quality.

"Captive rearing of the chiru antelope will neither serve the purpose of conservation nor can it provide raw material  to the weavers as these animals cannot be bred in captivity.  The animals have to be killed to collect their wool to make the shawls," the ministry said in its report to the Standing Committee on Science, Technology, Environment and Forest, which had made the recommendation.

Chiru have long been hunted for shahtoosh, which is renowned for its quality and has traditionally been transported to Srinagar, where it is woven into an extremely fine fabric used to make shawls.

It takes 3-5 hides to make a single shawl. Since the wool can't be sheared or combed, the animals have to be killed to collect the fur.

Trade in shahtoosh shawls was banned by the government to save chiru.

Since there  is  a  demand from weavers and traders to  lift the ban in order to save the shahtoosh shawl industry, MPs had proposed the breeding of these animals as an alternative.

The MPs asked the ministry to  consider how  China and Mongolia had apparently succeeded in the captive breeding of  the antelopes.

The ministry, however, claimed that China failed to keep chiru in captivity due to its poor survival rates.

Chiru inhabit the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau and require a large expanse of land for its movement, feeding and breeding.

The quality of wool depends on the cold and harsh climatic factors operating at high altitudes.

Any attempt to do a conservationist breeding of chiru at the very high-altitude regions of Ladakh is neither economical nor feasible as humans cannot be posted there continuously for more than 2-3 months to manage the resources, due to the high rate of casualties, the ministry said.

"And it may not serve the purpose if  the animal is kept in captivity below this altitude," the ministry noted.

The animal belongs to the 'near-threatened' category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.