The International Campaign for Tibet has been working on issues of endangered wildlife on the Tibetan Plateau since 1996. The Chinese government is now making strides in protecting endangered species in Tibet, but increased environmental stewardship, education, and involvement of Tibetan communities in the region would inevitably lead to more sustainable solutions to development in Tibet and further increase conservation efforts in Tibet.
Tibetan antelope (chiru)
Among the many cases of endangered species occurring in Tibet, the International Campaign for Tibet is most concerned with the endangered Tibetan antelope (also known as chiru). According to renowned wildlife biologist Dr. George Schaller, the numbers of Tibetan antelope had been reduced to less than 75,000 by the mid-90s, due mainly to poaching. Schaller estimates that as many as 20,000 Tibetan antelope are killed annually to fuel the trade of these shawls to the rich and famous.
Shahtoosh, the fur from the Tibetan antelope's underbelly, is considered to be one of the finest animal fibers in the world. The demand for shahtoosh fuels a lucrative illegal trade that starts in Tibet with the poachers, spans to India with the manufacturing of shahtoosh shawls, and ends in the fashion centers of the United States and Europe. The killing of these animals continues to thrive despite conservation and enforcement efforts by the governments of China, India, and United States, and international covenants that prohibit the international trade of the fur shawls.
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Other Organizations
Several wildlife and environmental organizations have created educational and action campaigns to save the Tibetan antelope from extinction. The following organizations have provided a great deal of information on the Tibetan antelope's struggle for survival, as well as other issues of endangered species in Tibet. All have suggestions of what you can do to help:
- Tibetan Plateau Project is a project of the Earth Island Institute. The TPP site currently features some of the most comprehensive and action information on the Tibetan antelope available on the web.
- International Federation for Animal Welfare recently completed an undercover investigating documenting the smuggling trade of precious shahtoosh from Tibet to the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Wildlife Conservation Society. George Schaller, the renowned expert on the Tibetan antelope, is currently the WCS Director for Science, and continues to pursue research on the survival of the Tibetan antelope and other animals on the Tibetan plateau.
- World Wildlife Fund and the IUCN's World Conservation Union assist the efforts inside Tibet to monitor the Tibetan antelope populations. IUCN creates a Red List of Threatened Species every year calling for action to help save endangered wildlife and fauna from extinction. The Tibetan antelope was among the 2000 list.
- TRAFFIC - the wildlife trade monitoring programme of WWF and IUCN.
- Tibet Environmental Watch continues to keep updated on news stories related to the environmental issues in Tibet ranging from wildlife to the impacts of development projects.
- Friends of Nature- an environmental organization based in China.
- Wildlife Protection Society of India
