The caudal gland located at the base of the tail secretes a foul smelling viscous yellow substance (Green,1985-1987).
The musk pod is located only in males, and secretes musk (Sathyakumar, 1993). The musk is of highest quality during mating season which is from December to January. During this time, it is a dark red brown granular powder with a strong smell. During November, April, and June, the musk quality is poorer. It has a pasty appearance, its color is creamy white, and it has little smell (Shrestha,1989). The external musk pod is roughly 4.1cm long, 3.3cm wide, and 4.6cm deep (Shrestha,1989).
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
CITES Appendix I Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan
Appendix II Bhutan, China
The M. chrysogaster population around the Himalayan area has decreased greatly because of poaching animals for their musk and the destruction of natural habitats both by livestock and by local people who collect bamboo for domestic use (Sathyakumar,1993).
One method of conserving M. chrysogaster is by extracting the musk without killing the musk deer. However, this method takes more time, and is more traumatizing for the musk deer (Shrestha,1989). Musk deer farms are used for this purpose, but these farms have high mortality rates. The main causes of deaths in these farms are trauma, pneumonia and diarrhea (Sathyakumar,1993).
Some problems that may contribute to the high mortality rate are low quality buildings, poor equipment, lack of adequate money, lack of skilled workers, and the remoteness and cold climate of the farm location (Sathyakumar,1993).
In China, there has been reports of success in cutting down mortality rate in Dwarf musk deer farms. In Fozling Farm, Anhui, the survival of young increased from 50% to >90%. In Ma Er Kang Farm, Sichuan, the young survival rate was 74% from 1959 to 1973 for three hundred and thirty-six Dwarf musk deer (Sathyakumar, 1993).
The reasons for keeping musk deer farms are for musk production, research, reintroduction into wild, and reintroduction to existing wild populations (Sathyakumar,1993).
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: appendix i
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: endangered
The musk is used by humans to make soap, perfume (Myers,1999) and indigenous medicine (Sathyakumar,1993).
Positive Impacts: source of medicine or drug
M. chrysogaster is a ruminant (Sathyakumar,1993). It can live on poor quality food. In autumn and winter, it mostly eats forbs and the woody plant leaves of trees and shrubs such as oak and gaultheria. In spring and summer, its diet consists mainly of forbs and lichens (Green,1987).
Plant Foods: leaves; lichens
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore )
Moschus chrysogaster lives along the Himalayas in Nepal, northern India, southern China, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Pakistan (CITES,2001; Shrestha,1989; Sathyakumar,1993; Kattel,1991).
M. chrysogaster usually lives in forests with moderate to steep slopes (Kattel,1991). M. chrysogaster is found in oak or fir forests (Kattel,1991) and can be found up to the tree line (usually about 4500 m) in mountains. Plants that may be found in its habitat include birch, rhododendron, blue pine, fir, oak, juniper, grass, lichens and shrubs (Kattel,1991; Green,1987).
Range elevation: 2400 to 4500 m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; scrub forest ; mountains
The average lifespan of captive bred M. chrysogaster is 2.4 years. The average lifespan of wild caught captive M. chrysogaster is about 7 years. The oldest captive Dwarf musk deer (M. berezovskii) from China had a lifespan of 20 years (Sathyakumar,1993).
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 17 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 3.1 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 2.4 years.
M. chrysogaster looks like a small deer with long upper canines that are visible even when the mouth is closed. It's tail is hairless except for a small tuff at the end (Shrestha, 1989), and it has long "hare-like" ears (Sathyakumar,1993). It has an externally visible musk sac that lies between its reproductive organs and umbilicus (Shrestha, 1989). The opening to the sac lies anterior to the urethra (Shrestha, 1989). A musk deer is about 60cm tall and has a shoulder height of about 20cm (Shrestha, 1989).
Musk deer have a caudal gland at the base of their tails (Green,1985-1987).
Range mass: 10 to 15 kg.
Average length: 100 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
M. chrysogaster has a shy nature (Sathyakumar,1993), and is easily alarmed (Kattel,1991). It is a solitary animal (Sathyakumar,1993) that is wary of humans.
Known Predators:
The mating season is December to January (Shrestha,1989).
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Average birth mass: 800 g.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 639 days.
The Alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) is a musk deer species native to the eastern Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan and India to the highlands of Tibet.[1]
The Alpine musk deer recorded in the Himalayan foothills is now considered a separate species, the Himalayan musk deer.[3]
It is the state animal of Uttarakhand.[4]
The Alpine musk deer belongs to the family Moschidae. This family is part of a clade that includes Bovidae, and Cervidae, which is a sister group to Giraffidae, who are all clustered together with Ruminatia under the order Artiodactyla.[5] Recent studies have shown a relation between Artiodactyls and Cetaceans, combining them into the order Certiodactyla.[6]
Two subspecies are recognized:
The Alpine musk deer is a small deer (40–60 cm tall) with long upper canines that do not hide within the mouth. It is named for having an externally visible musk sac between male testes. Its fangs grow during mating season and are used for sparring with other males.[7] Alpine musk deer have a larger body size compared to other musk deer.[8]
The Alpine musk deer inhabits coniferous and deciduous forests in the mountain regions of western China, Tibet, Sichuan and Gansu at elevations of 3,000–5,000 m (9,800–16,400 ft).[1][8] In Nepal, it occurs in Khaptad, Sagarmatha, Shey-Phoksundo, Langtang, Makalu Barun National Parks, Annapurna, Kanchenjunga Conservation Areas and Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[9] In eastern Bhutan's Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, it has been recorded at an elevation of 3,730–4,227 m (12,238–13,868 ft) in 2015.[10]
Mountain caves and shrubs form ideal habitat.[6] In southwestern China's Baima Xueshan Nature Reserve, the Alpine musk deer favours oak shrubs, oak forests and open canopy cover.[11]
The Alpine musk deer is a ruminant herbivore, foremost a browser and feeds mainly on forbs, grasses, moss, lichens, and shoots, leaves and twigs of shrubs.[12]
Males compete for resources and social rank. Those with the highest rank have primary access to resources such as food, shelter, territory and reproductive rights. Both captive and wild musk deer compete for resources, exhibited in aggressive interactions, during which they butt each other's heads and spray musk as a show of strength and territory marking. Establishing a hierarchy among herd animals often results in physical injury or death for the individuals involved. Captive musk deer show lower intensity of aggression. This involves threatening, displacing and ritual displays. In cases of higher intensity of aggression, a resolution to the conflict is only reached when one deer shows ritual submission, dies or runs away as a form of displacement by the victor.[7]
The mating season of Alpine musk deer is late November and the birth season is from June to July. Since they are solitary animals, observing them in captivity is difficult.[7]
The main threat to the Alpine musk deer is poaching for its musk, which is used in cosmetic products.[1] Poaching and continued demand for musk is the main threat in Nepal and Uttarakhand.[9][13] Musk is also used in Asian medicine. Due to illegal hunting and habitat loss, the Alpine musk deer has become an endangered species in China.[7] Habitat destruction lead to reduction of hiding places and increased predation access to the musk deer.[6] Due to human interference the habitat of the Alpine musk deer has been fragmented and isolated.[8] Japan has always been the largest importer of musk.[14]
Musk is used in different pharmaceutical products. Even though a synthetic musk has been developed, it hasn't completely replaced the use of natural musk, and the demand is increasing even outside of Asia. The Alpine musk deer has been hunted for centuries, but the introduction of guns in the last century lead to increased hunting. The use of snare traps takes a toll on the species, although it is not a target species. Since the demand for musk has increased internationally the supply from musk deer farms has been exceeded, putting even more pressure on the wild population.
In 1958, musk deer farms were started in China. By the early 1980s, these farms kept about 3,000 musk deer. Since many of these farms were not successful, only a few breeding centers keep and raise Alpine musk deer since the 1990s.[14] There is however little evidence whether and to which extent these farms contributed to the conservation of the species.[15][16]
Since the Alpine musk deer is a solitary, and shy species, it is difficult to breed in captivity.[14] Reports from Chinese musk deer farms show a high mortality rate for captive deer from the wild. Average lifespan in captivity is less than 4 years, opposed to 7–8 years in the wild. Behavioral studies of captive and wild deer have shown a low rate of domestication in captive deer and high success of releasing deer back into the wild who were born in captivity.[17]
The Alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) is a musk deer species 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.
It is the state animal of Uttarakhand.