How to Identify a Chiru

The Tibetan antelope, known as the chiru, is a member of the antelope family but closely resembles a goat. He is a medium sized bovid and a member of the bovidae family and has a short life span of about eight years. The chiru are located in the alpine steppe of northwest Tibet in China. There are also very few, approximately 300, in the Ladakh area of India.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Recognize the chiru by his size. He is about four feet tall and measures about 20 inches in length. The male weighs around 88 pounds while the female weighs about 57 pounds.
2. Identify the Tibetan antelope by his unique appearance. Chirus are a mix of several shades of brown and tan curly wool. They have long, straight, dark horns and their tails are between 7 and 12 inches long.
3. Spot the chiru grazing in flat or rolling terrain areas. Watch him as he ascends high rounded hills and mountains in elevations of up to 18,000 feet.
4. Look for a chiru herd off in the distance. Although the herds were larger centuries ago--up to 15,000--they do still vary widely in size today and herds can have as many as 1000.
5. The decline in the chiru population is due to poachers, the biggest threat known to these animals. Poachers illegally slaughter the chiru by thousands for their valuable wool. The wool is known on the international market as "shahtoosh" meaning "king of wool." The wool is very fine, expensive and used to make rare shatoosh shawls. Each shawl is worth thousands of dollars.