Found this ad by Wildlife trust of India and IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) in July 2001 issue of Reader’s Digest.
Wiki entry for Shahtoosh reads:
Shahtoosh (also written Shatush) – a Persian word meaning “Pleasure of Kings” – was the name given to a specific kind of shawl, which was woven with the down hair of the Chiru or Tibetan Antelope, by the weavers of Kashmir. These shawls were originally very few and it took very skilled artisans to weave the delicate hair (which measured between 9 and 11 micrometres). These factors made Shahtoosh shawls very precious. Shahtoosh are so fine that an average size shawl can be passed through a wedding ring.
According to Endangered Species Handbook
Few people have ever heard of an antelope known as the Chiru, or the Tibetan Antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), yet it produces shahtoosh, a wool far more valuable than gold. This statuesque animal is native to treeless steppe above 5,000 meters in Chinese Tibet and adjacent northwest India. Its extremely lightweight, delicate wool has traditionally been woven into shawls and sold in a limited trade in Tibet and Kashmir, India. Within the past few decades, however, a growing market has developed in major cities in India, Nepal, several western countries and Japan.
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An interesting article from The Washington Times, dated June 18, 2004 that look’s at the issue from various angles.
