Conserving Musk Deer the Uses of Musk and Europe's Role in its Trade (pdf, 360 kb)

13

Û

North Korea: Musk deer were designated “Natural Monument No. 216” in 1968 and are

protected as a result.  A Musk Deer Preservation Council was established in 1978 under the

auspices of the Korean Wildlife Preservation Association.

Û

Mongolia: Musk deer have been protected as an endangered species since 5 June 1995.

Û

Myanmar: Musk deer have been protected since 1994 under the Nature and Wildlife Law.

Û

Nepal: Musk deer have been totally protected since 1973 under the National Parks and Wildlife

Conservation Act.

Û

Pakistan: There are no provisions protecting musk deer.

Û

Russian Federation: All hoofed mammals (Ungulata) fall within the scope of the national

hunting law which in part also regulates animal protection (A. Vaisman, pers. comm., June

1998).  Musk deer are hunted under licence, as explained (see Hunting in the Soviet Union and

Russia), but regulations vary between krays (administrative territories).  In some krays there are

harvest quotas for musk deer and in others a prohibition of the hunting of musk deer.  Regula-

tions can vary from one year to another. 

The Sakhalin Musk Deer, a rare subspecies, is the only musk deer to have been included in the

Russian Federation’s Red List.  The national Red List in Russia is also intended to constitute a

list of those species afforded legal protection in the country (Ivanovic, 1996).  In the 1980s only

about 5-8% of the Sakhalin Musk Deer population was found in protected areas

2

(see Footnotes). 

Û

Vietnam: Musk deer have been protected by law since 1963 and any exploitation is prohibited.

THE MUSK GLAND AND MUSK AS A PRODUCT

The gland of the musk deer is approximately walnut-sized and is situated in the prenuptial region of the

male animal, between the abdomen and the genitals.  The gland is four to six centimetres long and 

3.5-4.5 cm wide.  The opening of the gland is only a few millimetres from the opening of the urethra.  In

the Himalayas, most musk is produced in the months from May to July, immediately prior to the autumn

rut.  At this time the yellow musk secretion flows via ducts into the musk sac.  It ripens here within about

a month into a scented red-brown substance.  When removed from the animal, the gland is dried,

whereupon the red-brown creamy substance within blackens and becomes granular and powdery (Mukerji,

1953).  Musk may enter the trade either as whole pods or as the granular red-brown contents of the pod,

which is also known as musk grain.

Male musk deer produce musk from the age of 12-18 months onwards (Green, 1989).  Most musk is

produced by animals between three and eight years of age, averaging 25 g of musk, per animal, per year.

In captivity, males produce little musk after the age of 14 years but the ability to produce musk is retained

until the age of 20 years.  On average, 18 g (10 g dry weight) of musk can be harvested annually from

animals kept in captivity (Green, 1989).

A distinction is made in the trade between four basic grades of musk: (i) the traditional highest grade,

Tonkin musk, from China and Tibet; (ii) Assam or Bengal musk from India; (iii) Russian musk; and 

(iv) Bukharan musk from the area of the former Soviet Union (Falbe and Regitz, 1995). 

Musk remains one of the most expensive natural products in the world today.  At the end of the 1970s, the

market value of musk reached US$45 000 per kg, or two or three times its weight in gold (Green, 1986).

---

14

In the 1850s, by comparison, musk had been worth only a quarter of the price of gold and there have indeed

been large price fluctuations over the years.  Musk has a very high value for the people living in the range

of musk deer.  The proceeds from selling 50 g of musk

(mean weight of two musk pods) were reported as

sufficient to provide a Nepalese family living in a

remote mountain region with at least a year’s income

(Blower, 1974, in Green, 1989).  Of 60 families

studied in a village in western Nepal in the 1970s, 25

were involved in musk deer poaching and for 20% of

the families involved, hunting for two-and-a-half

months was sufficient to secure income for a year in

Nepal and more money than a soldier could earn in

the army over three years (Jackson 1979).  Harris (1991) maintained that the value of a musk pod exceeded

the annual income of a shepherd in Tibet.

Musk is often adulterated because of its high value: to increase the weight, the musk is supplemented with

dried blood, liver or spleen, dried gall or the bark of certain trees.  Less sophisticated adulterations contain

lead shot or tobacco.  According to Green (1989), the major Japanese importer of musk had taken to testing

the purity of musk using gas-liquid chromatography.  According to Vaisman (1998), glands from Russia

have been traded since the mid-1990s in frozen form.  This form of trade requires that the gland remain

frozen at all stages, from hunter to end-consumer.

Muscone, the proportion by weight of which is 0.5-2% of the whole dried gland, and muscopyridine

constitute the main components of the musk scent. Similar macrocyclic alcohols and ketones are found in

the glandular secretions of the Muskrat and various civets.  Musk also contains fats, waxes, cholesterols

and resins (Mukerji, 1953).  One French perfumery found the content of muscone in musk samples in

Kathmandu to be three times higher than that in samples of musk in France, because it was adulterated

before it came to France (Green and Taylor, 1986). 

Although traditionally musk has been obtained by killing the deer and removing the entire gland (pod), in

musk deer farms in China methods have been under development since 1958 to remove musk without

killing the animals (Zhang, 1983).  According to Green (1989), it is also possible to harvest musk from

wild musk deer without killing them (see Musk deer farming and management of musk deer in zoos).

OTHER “MUSK” SPECIES IN THE ANIMAL AND PLANT KINGDOMS

Some other animal and plant species are associated with the musk odour.  They produce similar aromas or

substances which, while smelling of, or similar to, musk have a different chemical structure.  Yet other

species have nothing in common with the chemical substance of musk nor with the musk odour, but are

popularly referred to in this context.  The following list is not exhaustive.

The Muskrat Ondatra zibethica was originally indigenous to North America and found in wetlands, rivers

and lakes.  Through introduction and escapes since the early twentieth century, feral populations became

established in a broad belt across the whole of northern Eurasia.  The musk scent in the Muskrat is

produced in two small glands between the anus and the genitals and is exuded when the animal is stimu-

lated.  This musk is not suitable for the manufacture of essences in perfume production.

The African Civet Civettictis civetta, occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, and other African and Asian civet

species are a valuable source of a musk-like substance called “civet” (Schreiber et al. ,1989).  This

yellowish secretion has the consistency of butter and is a product from scent glands located near the civet’s

Musk deer pods

Cr

edit:

Michael J.B. Green

---