Some 300 to 400 grams of fur are needed to make a shahtoosh shawl, usually 2 metres long, 1.5 metres wide and weighing 100 grams. At least three antelopes have to be killed to provide enough fur for a single shawl. An estimated 20,000 antelopes are killed each year to maintain the fur processing trade. Individual gold-diggers originally killed antelopes for food. But since 1992, poachers have slaughtered the animals primarily for their fur.
Poachers use automatic weapons to kill hundreds of antelopes at a time.
In Hoh Xil, some poachers even tie logs to the sides of their trucks to mow down the animals. A patrol expedition led by Zhaba last August discovered the corpses of more than 800 female chiru which had been shot shortly after giving birth. Patrollers tried to feed powdered milk to some of the orphaned kids but their efforts came too late. The wholesale slaughter has led to a dramatic drop in the Tibetan antelope population in recent years. Experts predict that the antelope will face extinction in the next 20 years if the killing does not stop.