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CHIRU IN TROUBLE

The Tibetan antelope Chiru faces the threat of extinction if its killing is not stopped, say experts. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has donated us $10,000 to the Wild Yark Patrol (WYP), an anti-poaching force on China's Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Wool from the poached Chiru is smuggled to Kashmir where it is processed and woven and then illegally shipped to fashion centres in London, New York, Paris and Hong Kong. "It is the fashion markets and the vain desire of their rich patrons that are driving the Tibetan antelope to extinction,' says Grace Gabriel, director of IFAW in China.