The cashmere fibre is harvested from the goats’ chests once a year by the nomadic tribes of the region. The harvest is no more than 150 g of fibres per animal.

Tumenjargal and his wife inspect the white cashmere they have just collected. Their yurt is one hour’s journey by motorbike from Shine Jinst village, in one of the most remote regions of the Gobi Desert. The couple own seven hundred white goats, around twice as many as the average for farmers in the region.
Extreme climate conditions
The farmers and their herds live in difficult climate conditions where extreme episodes of bitter cold and heatwave are not infrequent.


Shine Jinst white cashmere goats
Farmers think that the family of white goats specific to the Gobi Desert originates from this region. Shine Jinst is the only place where the whole of the goat population is white.