What animal produces cashmere wool?

The cashmere goat is the animal that produces cashmere wool.

Cashmere is the fine, soft undercoat that cashmere goats grow beneath a layer of coarse guard hair. The undercoat develops during colder months and is collected during the spring moulting season, usually by combing or shearing. It must then be de-haired to separate the valuable down from the rougher fibers.

“Cashmere” refers to a fiber rather than one single standardized breed. Cashmere-producing goats include local and selected strains from China, Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan, Australia, and the Himalayan region. The name comes from Kashmir, historically associated with luxurious shawls made from goat down.

The alternatives can cause confusion. Angora goats produce mohair, while alpacas produce alpaca fiber. Merino sheep produce fine wool, but not cashmere. Cashmere is especially prized for its softness and warmth; under U.S. labeling rules, genuine cashmere must come from the fine de-haired undercoat of a cashmere goat and meet strict fiber-diameter limits.