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"Gunned down for fashion: The animal whose fur is worth more than gold"

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jody Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:40 PM
Original message
"Gunned down for fashion: The animal whose fur is worth more than gold"
Gunned down for fashion: The animal whose fur is worth more than gold
In a matter of seconds, the entire herd was gunned down with assault rifles and machine guns. Dozens of antelope lay dead - slaughtered for one of high-fashion's most desirable 'items', the shahtoosh shawl, made from the wool of the chiru antelope.

Coveted by the super-rich and fashionistas alike, shahtoosh has a mystique like no other. Shahtoosh, which means 'king of wool' in Persian, is so fine, light and translucent that a shawl made from it will pass through a wedding ring.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Before shahtoosh became fashionable in the early 1990s, more than a million animals roamed the Tibetan plateau. Of these vast herds only about 75,000 antelope now remain, with an estimated 20,000 killed each year by poachers.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The simple truth is that shahtoosh is so valuable that it is an almost irresistible source of money for poverty-stricken Tibetans. But the real driving force behind the trade is rich consumers in the developed world.

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Double T Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:43 PM
Response to Original message
1. rich fur consumers are pure assholes.
wonder what kind of a coat rich fur consumers would make?
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:54 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. Body hair has too short a staple to spin
Pubic hair and head hair is far too coarse. The resulting yarn would be like twine, not yarn.

Perhaps we should just develop an appetite for long pig.
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villager Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:45 PM
Response to Original message
2. I yearn for the day when armed antelopes can invade fashion shows...
"for their own comfort," of course...
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Double T Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:49 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. And don't forget: Protect your right to keep and arm BEARS.
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villager Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. I don't need to keep 'em, but I'd love to see them fire back...
...to make it, after all, more "sporting..."
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razors edge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 09:18 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. You ever been hunting?
I'm more worried about the animals with opposing thumbs in the woods with me.

Seriously, I think this is deplorable, we eat it or leave it alone.
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villager Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #6
7. well, I definitely agree that non-food should be left completely alone!
And perhaps, if one eats meat, one should "fetch" it oneself, and not rely on an industrial process to get it to one's plate?
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NNadir Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 10:01 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. I'm ambivalent about hunting.
I don't eat meat, so it's not about eating.

However I can't say I object to hunters, since they represent the only real predators we have here in New Jersey.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing wolves reintroduced here, but let's face it, the suburbanites would go nuts.

I think our New Jersey hunters are important to our ecosystem. I note that they are large contributors to local food banks, and as a group, they work hard for conservation of woodlands and open space. The meat they offer the foodbanks does not come from agribusiness, and there is almost no environmental destruction associated with it.

I have no enthusiasm for doing this myself. I couldn't shoot an animal, any animal, which is why I couldn't eat one. But the reality is that hunting is, on balance, in this country an environmental positive.

The case with the OP is quite different though, and obviously so.
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OneBlueSky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-26-07 07:51 AM
Response to Original message
9. if there is a hell, there's a very special, very hot corner reserved . . .
for these monsters . . . they'll be sharing it with the baby seal beaters and other assorted human waste . . .
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