Tibetan antelope
Pantholops hodgsonii (Abel, 1826)
The tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), also called the Chiru, is a mammal of the family Bovidae, subfamily Antilopinae, tribe Caprini, in the order Artiodactyla. It is a large, terrestrial, diurnal herbivore of desert habitat, with a representative adult body mass of 27.5 kg and values up to 30.12 kg.
Quick facts about the tibetan antelope
The IUCN Red List assesses the tibetan antelope globally as Near Threatened, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 27.5 kg – 30.1 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desertsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 152 days – 213 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the tibetan antelope
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the tibetan antelope live?
Not recorded
What is the tibetan antelope?
The Tibetan antelope or chiru (Pantholops hodgsonii) (Tibetan: གཙོད་, Wylie: gtsod, pronounced [tsǿ]; Chinese: 藏羚羊; pinyin: zànglíngyáng) is a medium-sized bovid native to the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Most of the population lives within the Chinese border, while some are scattered across India and Bhutan in the high-altitude plains, hill plateau, and montane valley. Fewer than 150,000 mature individuals are left in the wild, but the population is currently thought to be increasing.
In the 1980s and 1990s, they had become endangered due to massive illegal poaching. They are hunted for their extremely soft, light, and warm underfur, which is usually obtained after death. This underfur, known as shahtoosh (a Persian word meaning "king of fine wools"), is used to weave luxury shawls. Shahtoosh shawls were traditionally given as wedding gifts in India, and it takes the underfur of three to five adult antelopes to make one shawl. Despite strict controls on the trade of shahtoosh products and CITES listing, there is still demand for these luxury items. Within India, shawls are worth $1,000–$5,000; internationally, the price can reach as high as $20,000. In 1997, the Chinese government established the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve (also known as Kekexili) solely to protect the Tibetan antelope population.
From the Wikipedia article “Tibetan antelope” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tibetan_antelope&oldid=1381116353), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the tibetan antelope endangered?
The tibetan antelope is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the tibetan antelope classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusPantholops
- SpeciesPantholops hodgsonii (Abel, 1826)
Synonyms Antelope hodgsonii, Antilope chiru, Antilope hodgsonii, Antilope hodgsonii, Antilope kemas, Kemas hodgsoni
Other names and names in other languages (30)
- ChiruEnglish
- ChiruEnglish
- Tibetaanse WildsbokAfrikaans
- جيروArabic
- ظبي تبتيArabic
- TsosTibetan
- ČiruCzech
- TschiruGerman
- Tschiru-AntilopeGerman
- Tibeta antilopoEsperanto
- Antílope tibetanoSpanish
- Antilope del TibetSpanish
- khiruFinnish
- TchirouFrench
- Antilope du TibetFrench
- Antilope tibetanaItalian
- Pantholops hodgsoniiItalian
- チベットカモシカJapanese
- チルーJapanese
- 치루Korean
- 티베트영양Korean
- OrongoMongolian
- TibetantilopeNorwegian Bokmål
- Tibetaanse AntilopeDutch
- CziruPolish
- cziru tybetańskiePolish
- Тибетская антилопаRussian
- 藏羚Chinese
- 藏羚羊Chinese
- Zang-ling yangChinese
Relatives of the tibetan antelope
Other species in the same family Bovidae.
Water buffalo
Bubalus bubalis
African buffalo
Syncerus caffer
Impala
Aepyceros melampus
Muskox
Ovibos moschatus
Chamois
Rupicapra rupicapra
Aurochs
Bos primigenius
CompareTibetan antelope vs Water buffaloTibetan antelope vs African buffaloTibetan antelope vs ImpalaTibetan antelope vs Muskox
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the tibetan antelope?
The tibetan antelope is a mammal of the family Bovidae, in the subfamily Antilopinae and tribe Caprini of the order Artiodactyla.
How heavy is a tibetan antelope?
A representative adult body mass is 27.5 kg, with values up to 30.12 kg reported by our sources.
What does the tibetan antelope eat?
The tibetan antelope is a herbivore.
What habitat does the tibetan antelope live in?
It lives in desert habitat, where it is terrestrial and diurnal.
Is the tibetan antelope endangered?
No. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long is the tibetan antelope's gestation period?
Gestation lasts 213 days; our sources report values from 152.2 to 213.1 days.
How many young does a tibetan antelope have?
It has 1 young per litter, with 1.1 litters per year.
Who named the tibetan antelope?
Its scientific name, Pantholops hodgsonii, is attributed to (Abel, 1826).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/tibetan-antelope
“Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/tibetan-antelope.
@misc{tibetan_antelope_2026,
title = {Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/tibetan-antelope},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}