• The Chinese Army’s intrusion in Chumur and Demchok since January has left Ladakh’s nomadic herding Changpa community cut off from large parts of summer pastures.
• In a cascading effect, this has resulted in a sharp rise in deaths of young Pashmina goats this year in the Korzok-Chumur belt of Changthang plateau in Ladakh.

About Changthangi goat

• The Changthangi goat is a beautiful animal found in the cold, arid region surrounding Ladakh in Kashmir, India.
• It is also known as Pashmina goator Changra goat. The breed is raised mainly for it’s ultra-fine cashmere wool production.
• This cashmere wool is known as Pashminaonce woven. The breed was also reared for meat production in the past.
• Changthangi goat is a cashmere goat, and this type of goats grow a thick, warm undercoat which is the source or Kashmir Pashmina wool. And the Kashmir Pashmina wool is considered as the world’s finest cashmere, measuring between 12-15 microns in fiber thickness.
• This wool is used for the Kashmir’s famous Pashmina Shawls. Shawls made from Pashmina wool are exported worldwide at a very high price and considered as the finest of it’s kind.
• The Changthangi goat is usually domesticated and raised by nomadic communities called the Changpa in the Changthang region of Greater Ladakh, Kashmir. This region is one of the highest plateaus in the world.