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The Changthangi or Changpa is a breed of
The Changthangi or Changpa is a breed of cashmere goat
A cashmere goat is a type of goat that produces cashmere wool, the goat's fine, soft, downy, winter undercoat, in commercial quality and quantity. This undercoat grows as the day length shortens and is associated with an outer coat of coarse hai ...
native to the high plateaus of Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...
in northern India. It is closely associated with the nomadic Changpa
The Changpa or Champa (Changthang: ཆངཔ) are a semi-nomadic Tibetan people found mainly in the Changtang in Ladakh, India. A smaller number resides in the western regions of the Tibet Autonomous Region and were partially relocated for ...
people of the Changthang
The Changtang (alternatively spelled Changthang or Qangtang) is a part of the high altitude Tibetan Plateau in western and northern Tibet extending into the southern edges of Xinjiang as well as southeastern Ladakh, India, with vast highlands and g ...
plateau. It may also be known as the Ladakh Pashmina or Kashmiri.
The intense cold of the region causes the goats to grow a thick undercoat, which is harvested to produce the fine pashmina
Pashmina (, ) refers to, depending on the source, a term for cashmere wool of the Changthangi cashmere goat,Janet Rizvi: ''Pashmina: The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond''. Marg Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-8185026909. for fine Indian cashmere woolRobert ...
grade of cashmere. In the twenty-first century the quality of the pashmina is threatened by global climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
; approximately three quarters of Indian pashmina production is from these goats. They are also used as pack animal
A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft ani ...
s and for meat.
Description
These goats are generally domesticated and are reared by nomadic communities called the Changpa in theChangthang
The Changtang (alternatively spelled Changthang or Qangtang) is a part of the high altitude Tibetan Plateau in western and northern Tibet extending into the southern edges of Xinjiang as well as southeastern Ladakh, India, with vast highlands and g ...
regions of Ladakh, including the Kharnak, Rupshu
Rupshu is a high elevation plateau and valley and an eponymous community development block in southeast Ladakh.
Description
Frederic Drew describes the Rupshu valley as follows:
Drew states that the valleys of Rupshu continue beyond the Tso ...
, Demchok/ Skakjung and the Pangong Lake
Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (;
; hi, text=पैंगोंग झील) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso'', ''Tso N ...
regions.
The goats survive on grass in Ladakh, where temperatures plunge to as low as . These goats provide the wool for Kashmir's famous ''pashmina'' shawls. Shawls made from Pashmina wool are considered very fine, and are exported worldwide.
The Changthangi goats have revitalised the poor economy of Changthang, Ladakh where the wool production generates more than $8 million a year.
Noori
Noori ( ) is a Pakistani rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, formed in 1996. The group was formed by songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist, Ali Noor, along with his younger brother Ali Hamza, who were soon joined by bassist Muhammad A ...
, the world's first cloned Pashmina goat, was cloned at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir is an agricultural university located in Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. With its main campus and Faculty of Horticul ...
(SKUAST) in Shuhama, 25 km east of Srinagar, on 15 March 2012.
Characteristics
The Changthangi is a small goat, standing about at thewithers
The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...
, and weighing on average approximately . Both sexes are horned; the horns are large and twisted, and may reach a length of . The ears are small and upright. The coat consists of an outer coat of long hair, and a thick undercoat of fine pashmina; it is commonly white, but can also be black, brown or grey. The skin is white or pale brown.
See also
*William Windsor (goat)
William "Billy" Windsor I is a cashmere goat who served as a lance corporal in the 1st Battalion, the Royal Welsh, an infantry battalion of the British Army. He served as a lance corporal from 2001 until 2009, except for a three-month period i ...
* Turfani pashm
References
Goat breeds Fiber-producing goat breeds Meat goat breeds Goat breeds originating in India Cashmere wool {{goat-stub ar:ماعز البشمين cs:Kašmírská koza de:Kaschmirziege eo:Kaŝmirkapro