Ladakh’s pashmina-goat-rearing nomads are dwindling

CITY LIFE is easy, scoffs Tsetan Paljor, whirling a prayer wheel as he sits by a stream where, on a little island, three crimson-robed lamas snooze. City people don’t have the stresses we have, he says: are the goats eating enough? Are snow leopards on the prowl? Mr Paljor, 69, is a member of the Kharnak, one of three tribes of the Changpa, who live in Ladakh in the extreme north of India. For as long as anybody can remember, these tribes have raised the goats native to the Changthang plateau—the only ones that produce pashmina, the most prized and pricey type of cashmere.