What is the difference between the antelopes Oryx and Chiru?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) Oryx is adapted to live in hot and arid areas whereas Chiru is adapted to live in steppes and semi-desert areas of cold high mountains.
The Oryx is a desert antelope built for extremely arid, hot environments. The Chiru (Tibetan antelope) lives on the cold, high-altitude steppes of the Tibetan Plateau. Statement (a) states this difference correctly, and (b) and (c) are factually wrong.
- ✓ (a) The Arabian Oryx is uniquely adapted to living in extremely arid environments. The Chiru is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. It lives on alpine and desert steppe at 3,250–5,500 m, a bitterly cold high-mountain habitat.
- ✗ (b) Neither animal is poached for the product named. Chiru is poached for its fine underfur, shahtoosh, used to make luxury shawls. Musk comes from the musk deer. Antelopes such as the Oryx carry horns, not antlers.
- ✗ (c) Chiru is a Tibetan Plateau species. In India it is found only in the cold high-altitude area of Ladakh, not in north-east India. Oryx species live in the deserts of Arabia and Africa and do not occur wild in western India.
- ✗ (d) Statement (a) is correct, so 'none of the above' cannot be right.
Remember · Oryx = hot-desert antelope of Arabia and Africa. Chiru = Tibetan antelope of cold high-altitude steppe (Ladakh in India), poached for shahtoosh wool. Musk comes from the musk deer, and antelopes have horns, not antlers.
Sources
- IUCN Red List factsheet: The Arabian Oryx – A conservation success story ↗ “the Arabian Oryx is uniquely adapted to living in extremely arid environments”
- CMS (UN Convention on Migratory Species): Pantholops hodgsonii (Chiru) ↗ “endemic species of the Tibetan Plateau, found on alpine and desert steppe habitats at elevations of 3,250 – 5,500 metres. … extremely high level of poaching for their underfur (shatoosh) used to produce a fine expensive fabric for making luxury shawls.”
- Wildlife Trust of India: Mountain Migrants (Conservation Action Series) ↗ · reference work “The animals are reported to be poached in Tibet for its prized underwool also called Shahtoosh.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
