Question

Which endangered animal is the source of the World’s finest, lightest, warmest, and most expensive wool the Shahtoosh
(a) Nilgai
(b) Cheetahs
(c) Kashmiri goat
(d) Chiru

Answer 1

Hint: Tibetian antelope which is being hunted for its fine quality of wool in the world. They are found in the Tibetian plateau belonging to the genus pantholops.

Complete step by step answer:
Tibetian antelopes are species found in the Tibet plateau which are endangered due to illegal hunting for poaching. They kill these animals for their extremely soft, light, and warm underfur one of the most expensive wool in the world. This underfur is called shahtoosh used to weave luxury shawls. Tibetian antelopes are also called chiru.
So, the answer is ‘chiru’.

Additional information:
- Pantholops hodgsonii is the scientific name of Tibetian Antelope called chiru.
- They are medium-sized animals in which males are distinguished from females by the presence of horns on the head and black stripes on the leg
- Tibetian antelopes are found in alpine and steppe environments of the Tibetan plateau
- One of the important features in these animals is, retention of fetal hemoglobin which has a high affinity for oxygen. This feature is adopted as they are grown on high altitude spaces, there the oxygen levels are low
- They are on the list of endangered species because they are being hunted for their extremely soft, warm, and light wool. They are the sources of the world’s finish and most expensive underfur called shahtoosh
- Shahtoosh is a Persian word which means ‘king of fine wools’

Note: Tibetian antelope or chiru belongs to the kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, family Bovidae, genus pantholops
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) made the killing of these animals illegal and more than 160 countries signed this.