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

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anus.  Civet mainly comes from Ethiopian civet farms and is used as a raw substance in the perfume

industry, particularly in France.  In 1988, the value of civet was US$0.45/g.

The Russian Desman Desmana moschata produces “musk” from glands at the base of its tail, which

lends the animal a musky odour.  The species is distributed in Russia in the Caspian and Black Sea regions.

In particular during the last century, the Russian Desman was hunted for its musk, for use in the perfume

industry (Fons, 1988).  The species became so threatened that by 1978 it was placed on the Red List in

Russia and thus became protected.

Musk Oxen Ovibos moschatus occur naturally in Greenland and north of the Arctic Circle in Canada and

have been introduced into Norway, Sweden, Russia and the USA (Alaska).  Musk oxen have pre-orbital

glands rather than musk glands.  They do not, however, have a strong musky odour.  The origin of the

vernacular name remains unclear.  It is assumed to stem from the French translation of the Ojibwa Indian

word for “wet tundra” or “swamp”, where musk oxen were observed.  A second possible explanation is

that the discoverers of musk oxen mistakenly believed that they had musk glands (David R. Klein, pers.

comm., March 1998).

The Suni Neotragus moschatus is an antelope inhabiting dry scrub land in south-east Africa (Stuart’

S

and

Stuart’

S

, 1988).  The Suni emits a strong musky odour from its pre-orbital glands (Walther, 1988).

The Musk Mallow Hibiscus abelmoschus Malvaceae produces seeds that smell of musk and from which

oil is obtained (Falbe and Regitz, 1995).  Musk Mallow occurs in India and was introduced to the tropics.

It is also used as a musk scent in the perfume industry.  One millilitre of essential oil from Musk Mallow

seeds sells for about US$22, the oils being extracted by means of a distillation process.

The Musk Rose Rosa moschata Rosaceae occurs in the Himalayas, Iran, the countries of the Mediter-

ranean and Ethiopia.  It has been introduced into South America as a neophyte and is known there as “Rosa

mosqueta”. The plant smells musk-like.

The  Musk Milfoil Achillea erba-rotta subsp. moschata Asteraceae occurs in the central and southern

Alps.  It gives off a remarkable aromatic and spicy scent which has undoubtedly contributed to its name

(Wendelberger, 1976).  Extracts of Musk Milfoil are used in homeopathy.  The species is protected in

Germany under the Federal Species-Protection Regulation.

THE GLOBAL TRADE IN MUSK

As explained in Methodology, inconsistencies and lacuna are inherent in the CITES annual reports on

which the WCMC data are based.  In considering the trade information presented in this chapter, this

should be borne in mind.  In particular, the records for 1995 and 1996 were found to be incomplete

(M.Gulliver, pers. comm., June 1998).  For example, by June 1998, Japan, Russia and Hong Kong had not

submitted their annual reports of 1996 to the CITES Secretariat, while for 1995 data from Hong Kong are

missing.  Furthermore, although all musk deer species Moschus spp. have been listed in the CITES Appen-

dices since 1979, some musk deer range States (North Korea, Bhutan and possibly Kyrgyzstan), and some

non-range traders (Yugoslavia and Taiwan) are not Parties to CITES (Tables 3 and 4).  These 

non-Parties do not report trade in musk deer specimens to the CITES Secretariat and information relating

to such trade has therefore been derived from the CITES annual reports of their trading partners.  Yet other

countries, which are Parties to CITES, have held so-called “reservations” for trade in musk deer, with the

effect that they were exempt from CITES requirements with respect to such trade.  From 1993 to 1996,

South Korea maintained a CITES reservation for trade in musk deer species listed in Appendix II and, as

a consequence, traded in musk like a non-Party State.  Likewise, Japan held a reservation on musk deer

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included in Appendix I from 1980 to 1989, and a reservation on Appendix-II musk deer species from 1983

to 1989. 

The categories of musk deer specimens in trade, as used in CITES tabulations, are shown in Table 2, as

well as the number of records of trade in each, 1978-96. 

Table 2

Number of records of musk deer specimens in CITES tabulations, and descriptions of the

specimens in trade (1978-96)

Source: WCMC, January 1998.

Table 2 indicates that international trade in musk deer products appears to have been chiefly in derivatives

and raw musk for the period 1978-96.  Most derivatives are medicines containing musk.  The great

majority of trade in musk derivatives is dominated by exports from China and imports by some East and

Southeast Asian countries (for example, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore) and by certain Western

countries (USA, New Zealand, Australia).  It is important to recognise, when considering the trade in musk

derivatives reported by CITES Parties, that permits would not be issued for all products traded interna-

tionally that could contain musk: examples of products exempt from permitting requirements include

perfume phials and traditional East Asian medicines.  Hong Kong, for instance, does not control interna-

tional trade in patent medicines containing musk (J. Mills, pers. comm., October 1998).  This observation

notwithstanding, the CITES records indicate that 35 countries exported or re-exported specimens of musk

or other musk deer products between 1978 and 1996 (Table 3). 

Abbreviation

Musk deer specimen in trade

Number of records

Proportion (%)

BOC

Bone carvings

1

0.16

BOD

Bodies

14

2.29

BON

Bones

2

0.33

BOP

Body parts

1

0.16

BPR

Bone products

1

0.16

DER

Derivatives

356

58.17

FOO

Feet

1

0.16

HPR

Horn products

1

0.16

LIV

Live animals

24

3.92

MUS

Musk

173

28.27

OIL

Oil

2

0.33

SKI

Skins

2

0.33

SKP

Skin parts

10

1.63

SKU

Skulls

3

0.49

SPE

Scientific specimens

12

1.96

TRO

Trophies

9

1.47

Total

612

100.00

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