AR-News: Fur flies over Kashmiri government's bid to revive shahtoosh shawls

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

India's Kashmir government is on a collision course with environmentalists 
over a ban on trade of shahtoosh, made from the fur of an endangered Tibetan 
antelope and known as the "king of wools" for its gossamer lightness. 
Trade in the luxurious shahtoosh shawls, sought by the rich and famous as 
well as being a traditional dowry item in north India, is outlawed under the 
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. 
India passed a ban in 1976 on shahtoosh made from the fur of the chiru, or 
Tibetan antelope. In 2002, the previous state government of Jammu and Kashmir 
finally followed suit under heavy pressure from environmentalists. 
Now, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, the restive 
state where the weaving of shahtoosh shawls has traditionally been centred, 
wants to overturn the ban on the shawls that cost thousands of dollars.




full story:

http://www.terradaily.com/2004/040404024436.2emm39f1.html 
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