Wali Mohammad, a 55-year-old Kashmiri shawl weaver, weaves a Shahtoosh shawl at a loom in central Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir on July 1. Manufacturers and weavers of shahtoosh on Saturday threatened to create problems unless the government withdraws its threat to ban the trade in shahtoosh, a wool derived from the hair of the endangered Tibetan antelope, the chiru. Environmentalists say chiru are shot and skinned for their hair in remote areas of Tibet but the traders say the antelope shed their wool naturally by rubbing themselves against shrubs and rocks in summer.

FK/PB