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Snow leopards, wild yaks and other iconic wildlife on the
world's highest mountains and great steppes are becoming "fashion
victims" of the surging global trade in cashmere, new research has
revealed.
Scientists found wildlife being driven to the margins of survival
by the "striking but unintended consequences" of huge increases in
the numbers of the goats producing the luxurious lightweight wool.
The herds eat up the grass that previously supported antelopes,
wild asses and their predators. Further problems were retaliatory
killings of leopards and wolves by herders after livestock attacks,
the killing of wild animals by herders' dogs and the transfer of
disease from livestock to wild…