The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned that the chiru would soon be hunted to extinction because of the demand for the scarves, known as shahtoosh.

Daniel Lak in Delhi: India has agreed to take stricter measures against the trade

The shawls, which can cost as much as $15,000 each, have been popular as wedding gifts in the sub-continent for hundreds of years and are now regarded as high fashion items in the west.

But the WWF says an estimated 20,000 animals are slaughtered each year to obtain the prized wool.

The endangered Tibetan antelope

The antelope are either shot in herds or caught in traps. Experts say some poachers have even found their calving grounds and kill females, as they are giving birth.

The scarves are woven in Indian-administered Kashmir and smuggled out through India and Pakistan.

The wool is just one-fifth the width of human hair and the shawls are so finely woven that a full-size one can be drawn through a wedding ring.

Population decimated

The coats of between three and five animals are needed for a single shawl.

Before the demand for shahtoosh escalated in the 1980s, there were thought to be more than one million chiru roaming Tibet and north-west China.

Christie Brinkley is one of many shahtoosh owners

But conservationists believe the population has been reduced to between 50,000 and 100,000.

On Thursday the WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society launched an international ''Don't buy shahtoosh'' campaign with the help of supermodel Shalom Harlow.

The initiative comes amid reports that a federal grand jury in the US has subpoenaed model Christie Brinkley and other celebrities in an investigation into chiru poaching.

Status symbol

The main demand for shahtoosh comes from Britain, France, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

Wang Weisheng, a Chinese forestry officer, said: "Rich ladies use shahtoosh shawls as a status symbol and put them on to show themselves off.

''But actually, these shawls are full of the blood of Tibetan antelopes and are also totally illegal.''

An international agreement on saving the Tibetan antelope was hammered out at a conference in China last week.

China has said it is determined to enforce a hunting ban. Reports say it has sentenced at least 14 people to death for poaching the animal.

India has also promised to take tough action. Anyone caught buying or selling shahtoosh faces a minimum of a year in jail and a 25,000 rupees ($588) fine.

But the state government of Indian-administered Kashmir has refused to ban the sale of the shawl through its handicraft outlets.

Celebrities targeted

Trade in shahtoosh items has been illegal in most countries since 1979, but they have shown up recently in exclusive shops around the world and in private sales.

In July, a New York grand jury cleared the way for action to be taken against people who owned shawls.