Last year’s unusually dry summer and this winter’s unprecedented snowfall, the worst in nearly 50 years, in Ladakh’s Changtang area has claimed over 18,000 pashmina goats, the source of one of the finest varieties of wool. Changtang is a high-altitude plateau in southeastern Ladakh, known for its semi-arid weather with little vegetation. The harsh winter makes these mountain goats grow extremely warm and very soft coating that is six times finer than human hair and used to produce pashmina wool. Lack of rain last year dried out the natural flora and heavy snowfall in January and February cut off the region from the rest of the country, preventing fodder supplies. “The goats perished because of extreme cold and lack of food,” said Dr Morup of Leh’s district sheep husbandry office