MUSK DEER
musk deer
Musk deer (Moschidae) are small deer-like animals that live in highland areas in central and northeastern Asia, particularly in western China, Myanmar and the Himalayas. They are shy, usually feeding at night, and tend to live alone, occasionally in pairs but never in herds. Musk deer lacks antlers. Adults stand about 70 centimeters (20 inches) at the shoulder and are one meter (three feet) long and weigh seven to 18 kilograms. Their coarse hair is usually grayish or yellowish brown.
Musk deer typically inhabit forests and brushlands at intermediate elevations and rocky slopes at altitudes between 2,600 and 3,000 meters. Those found in Tibet can live in areas above 5,000 meters. The animal has well-developed side toes that give it a sure-footedness and allow to scamper around rocks in the snow and even climb trees. Its coat is dark brown, mottled with paler, greyer hair underneath. It has whitish markings on its chin and ears.
Despite being called deer, musk deer are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, but rather their family is closely related to Bovidae, the group that contains antelopes, bovines, sheep, and goats. Musk deer have a global population between 400,000 to 800,000 currently, however the exact count is undetermined. They are widely spread, with greatest numbers in China, Russia, and Mongolia. Musk deer are found in 17 provinces in China. [Source: Wikipedia]
Musk deer were once poached to near extinction. There numbers in the wild in China have fallen to 50,000 from 500,000 in the not too distant past. In China, musk deer have been raised in captivity since the late 1950s. There are currently several thousand musk deer in captivity. Over the years these deer have been weakened by inbreeding and are prone to illness.
On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List they are listed as Vulnerable The main natural predators of the Siberian musk deer (other than man) are lynx, wolverines, and yellow-throated martens. In one study, done in the mountains, musk deer remains were found in 43 percent of the feces of lynx. [Source: Jeremy Mulder, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Musk Deer Species
There are seven species of musk deer in a single genus, all in Asia, and all in decline and many of which live in mountainous areas: 1) Anhui musk deer (M. anhuiensis); 2) Dwarf musk deer (M. berezovskii ); 3) Alpine musk deer (M. chrysogaster); 4) Kashmir musk deer (M. cupreus); 5) Black musk deer (M. fuscus); 6) White-bellied musk deer (M. leucogaster) and 7) Siberian musk deer ( M. moschiferus)
Siberian musk deer inhabit the middle altitudes of montane taiga (usually not found above 1600 meters). In the winter, they are attracted to relatively steep slopes covered with coniferous forests. Favorite habitats are sections with rock outcrops, which provide shelter from predators. In the summer, most of their time is spent in valleys of forest rivers, around streams, and near fields with good grassy vegatation (e.g., where coniferous taiga alternates with mixed deciduous forest). They avoid marshy forests in taiga forests and rainforests. scrub forests (in areas with an extended dry season) and mountains. [Source: Jeremy Mulder, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
The Alpine musk deer (Moschus sifanicus) is mainly distributed in the meadows, grasslands and bare rocks shrubberies with coniferous forests or beside hillcrests. Alpine musk deer live in an altitude of 3000 to 4000 meters. Solitary in nature, they move in a relatively fixed route in the morning or evening. If they find any trace of man, they will find another route. The alpine musk deer generally does not feed on tree leaves. Its diet consists of mountain grass, shrubbery leaves and twigs, mosses and lichen. Its mating season is winter and a pregnant female Alpine Musk Deer often gives birth to two young in June of the following year. An animal peculiar to plateaus. On China’s National List for Specially Protected Wild Animals, it is listed as a threatened species.
The Alpine musk deer is native to the eastern Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan and India to the highlands of Tibet. The Alpine musk deer recorded in the Himalayan foothills is now considered a separate species, the Himalayan musk deer. The white-bellied musk deer or Himalayan musk deer is found in the Himalayas of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and China.
Musk Deer Characteristics
musk deer skull
Musk deer are small deer-like animals that weigh nine to 18 kilograms). They are similar to cervids (deer) in many respects and have been classified as a subfamily of the Cervidae but now are generally recognized as different. Both sexes of musk deer lack antlers. Males have scimitar-like canines; females have smaller canines). Musk deer have a single opening to their lacrimal canals (tear ducts), versus two in cervids. Their gestation period is shorter than that of cervids (5 months vs. usually around 10 months), and musk deer have a gall bladder (absent in cervids). Unlike cervids, musk deer have an abdominal musk gland. This gland secretes a brownish, waxy substance that is used by humans in perfumes and soaps.
Musk deer have long well-muscled hind legs and shorter, weaker, thin forelimbs. Their chest is usually small and their back is highly arched back, making the animal is much higher at the sacrum (tail bone area) than at the shoulders. This body structure correlates with the animal's usual pattern of movement — a series of well coordinated jumps generated from the hind legs. Males weigh slightly less than females. The male's canines are fine and extremely sharp and protrude directly downward from the mouth. In older males, canine tips extend considerably below the lower jaw. [Source: Jeremy Mulder, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Siberian musk deer range in weight from 15 to 17 kilograms (33 to 37.4 pounds). They have age-related changes in hair coat and colorings. New-borns have short, dark brown, soft hair, densely covered with yellowish or white spots. By the second winter, young molt into their winter coat, which consists of coarse hair typical of an adult. The spots become less defined or absent. /=\
Over 130 plant species are consumed by musk deer. In the winter, arboreal lichens and some terrestrial bushy lichens make up about 70 percent of the contents of a musk deer's stomach (by weight). Musk deer also eat young shoots, coniferous needles, leaves, buds, and bark of mountain ash, aspens, maple, willow, bird cherry, and honeysuckle. In the summer, herbaceous plants are the main diet. These include buckwheat, geranium, some grasses, and spirea. [Source: Jeremy Mulder, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Male musk deer canines hang from the upper jaw outside the lips. They are used in fighting. Males also have a small gland under a layer of skin in its abdomen that produces musk, a waxy secretion that is used in perfumes, and Asian folk medicines and aphrodisiacs. It is believed that the male musk deer uses the gland to attract females because it only functions during the month-long mating season, when, not by coincidentally, the animal is hunted.
Musk Deer Behavior and Reproduction
Musk deer are motile (move around as opposed to being stationary) and generally active at night or in the early morning or late evening. They are shy and furtive animals. They are much less active in heavy snowfall. They sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell. Vision and hearing are thought to be keen, and sense of smell poor.
range of Himalayan musk deer
Musk deer are secretive animals, They are usually solitary. Their diet includes both browse and graze, and they also consume some mosses and lichens. Siberian Musk deer usually live singly or in groups of two or three (a mother and her young). Musk deer migrate from the steep mountain slopes they occupy in the winter to their summer range in grassy meadows found near mountain river valleys. [Source: Jeremy Mulder, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Males leave their territories during the rutting season and compete for mates, using their tusks as weapons. In order to indicate their area, musk deer build latrines. These locations can be used to identify the musk deer's existence, number, and preferred habitat in the wild. A musk pouch (located between the sex organs and the navel) releases a scent that is believed to be a signal to attract a mate.
Estrus occurs in December usually lasts for three to four weeks. The gestation period is 185-195 days and there is no latent stage of embryonic development. Females deliver one fawn or rarely two. Fawning occurs in secluded places such as beneath dense shrubs, under low branches of fir, or around fallen trees. Strangely, up to 1/3 of adult females remain barren every year. Fawns stay with their mothers for up to two years (two winters). On average females reach sexual or reproductive maturity at 473 days.
Musk Deer Musk
Musk is a brown, waxy substance. In India the hairy gland from the musk deer sells for several hundred dollars a piece — more than a year's income for many people who live in places where musk deer are found On the whole sale market one ounce of brown musk powder can sell for for thousands of dollars. Special musk dealers, called "kastriwale", buy the glands from the hunters and sell them to pharmacist who use the gland to make perfume and medicines.
In the old days male musk deer were hunted and killed to get the gland. Since they are shy and difficult for humans to approach they have traditionally mostly been caught with snares and traps. After the animal was killed the gland is cut off and dried on a warm stone. Now the gland can be taken without killing the animal by using tranquilizer guns, subsequently their numbers have increased. Many are still killed though.
Thousands of male musk deer have been killed for their musk pods, a gland that produces the musk that gives the animals their name and has been used in perfumes. The musk can be extracted from live animals, but “musk gatherers,” who can get around $200 to $250 per gland from foreign traders, find it easier to kill the deer. Though perfume makers have found synthetic alternatives to musk, the hunting hasn’t stopped. Musk deer meat is considered a local delicacy, and musk is still used in traditional medicines for treating cardiac, circulatory and respiratory problems.
In the 1990s, the market for musk products in Korea alone was estimated to be worth $125 million. The cost of one pill with musk varied from between $9 and $16 Musk imports in Korea dropped from 1,529 kilograms in 1991 to 393 kilograms in 1993 and 290 kilograms in 1994. Scientist at pharmaceutical companies are trying to come up with a synthetic substitute for musk.
Musk and Perfume
Musk is jelly-like secretion from the musk deer. Musk oil sells for $300 a gram, making it the most expensive oil used in perfumes. Chanel No. 5 is among the perfumes that contains musk. Musk can be smelled in concentrations as little as 0.00000000000032 of an ounce. In one experiment by International Flavors and Fragrances, women who sniffed musk had shorter menstrual cycles and ovulated more than women who didn't.
The main chemical compound in musk is muscone, which gives musk its distinctive, persistent odor. The muscone is an important component of many perfumes, but also has medicinal properties. Musk is secreted by a saccate gland located between the sex organs and the naval. It was first used as a medicine in Europe and Asia. The use of musk as a natural perfume base (used in preparing high quality scents) was discovered later. When this happened, the use of musk in perfume boomed. In Nepal in 1972, for example, an ounce of musk was worth more than an ounce of gold. /=\
The musk deer has long been hunted for its prized "musk pouch." In 1855, around 81,200 sacs were exported from Russia to China through Kyakhta, and a few years later, Japan imported over 100,000 sacs in a single year. The musk deer population diminished greatly, and in 1927, only 5,089 sacs were collected. This lead to the classification of the animal as endangered by the USDI (1980). The musk deer also appears in Appendix one of CITES. [Source: Jeremy Mulder, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Musk and Asian Medicine
In Asia, musk is prescribed to help people digest food, treat malaria, stop convulsions, calm strained nerves, quiet crying babies and provide energy. In India, men mix musk with bitumen, boiled lizard and orchid tubers and take it as a remedy against impotence. In some places it is rubbed on private parts and used as an aphrodisiac.
According to the Chinese government: Musk is an important component of traditional Chinese medicine. It is produced in a musk pod, a gland located in a pouch or sac under the abdomen of the male musk deer. Typically, musk pods are harvested by being removed from the deer via a surgical procedure. They are then air-dried before being cut open to reveal a small, oval-shaped kernel. [Source: chinaculture.org, Chinadaily.com.cn, Ministry of Culture, P.R.China]
In traditional Chinese medicine, musk is considered pungent and warm, and is affiliated with the heart and spleen meridians. Its main functions are to promote blood circulation, improve and restore menstrual flow, and relieve pain caused by traumatic injuries. Some practitioners have used musk in combination with herbs to help with slow or difficult childbirth, and to treat sore throats.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.
Last updated January 2025