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

17

Exports of musk deer specimens 

Nine of the countries listed in Table 3 were musk deer range States, while 26 were re-exporting countries

(a distinction will be made below between exporting and re-exporting only when it is explicitly

mentioned).  Seven countries reportedly exported raw musk; eleven reportedly re-exported raw musk.

Although China hardly features in the raw musk trade (see Trade in raw musk only), it is one of the major

exporters of musk deer derivatives.  Very little is known about the trade and consumption of musk inside

China.  According to Wang et al. (1993) the quantity of musk that was annually traded in China in the early

1980s ranged from 2000 to 2500 kg.  According to Sheng and Ohtaishi (1993), some 500 000 musk deer

were killed every year in China in the 1960s.  This over-exploitation of Chinese musk deer populations led

to declines from approximately three million musk deer in the 1950s to about one million animals in the

1970s.  Much of this musk is used in the production of medicinal derivatives and then traded worldwide.

Country

Year of CITES membership

Musk deer range State

Export of raw musk

Re-export of

raw musk

Australia

1976

Austria

1982

Cambodia

-

xxx

Canada

1975

Chad

1989

China

1981

xxx

xxx

East Germany

1976

Finland 1976

France

1978

xxx

Germany

1976

xxx

Hong Kong

1976

xxx

India

1976

xxx

xxx

Indonesia 1978

Japan

1980

xxx

R! - 

7/83-4/89

Kenya 1978

Kyrgyzstan

-

xxx

xxx

Macao

1980

xxx

Malaysia

1977

Mongolia 1996

xxx

xxx

Nepal 1975

xxx

xxx

North Korea

-

xxx

Philippines 1981

Poland 1989

South Korea

1993

xxx

R! - 10/93-10/96

Russia

1992

xxx

xxx

Senegal 1977

xxx

Singapore 1986

xxx

Soviet Union 

1976

xxx

xxx

Switzerland 1974

xxx

Taiwan

-

Thailand 1983

UK 1976

USA 1974

Uzbekistan 1997

xxx

Vietnam 1994

xxx

Table 3

Table to show the 35 countries that exported or re-exported musk deer products, including

musk, 1978-96, according to CITES annual reports

R!: CITES reservation clause in respect of the listing of musk deer.

Source: CITES annual reports.  WCMC, January 1998.

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18

Imports of musk deer specimens

In terms of imports, 42 countries were recorded as importing musk products, according to CITES annual

reports, 1978-96 (Table 4).  Thirteen countries reportedly imported raw musk; seven reportedly re-

exported raw musk.

For the period under review, Asian

countries accounted for two-thirds of all

records referring to international trans-

actions of musk deer products, as

reported by CITES Parties (Figure 2);

American countries, including USA and

Canada, accounted for about one-fifth of

the same; European countries, including

the Soviet Union and Russia, for 11%;

and Oceania and Africa played minor

roles.

The products in trade (e.g. trophies, live

animals) are numerically quantified, but

some of the transactions reported by

CITES Parties do not allow calculation

of the amount of musk, nor the number

of musk deer in trade (Anon., 1993).

Musk oil, for instance, is specified in

terms of the number of bottles traded and

derivatives are quantified by number of

crates, boxes or bags.  For the remainder

of this chapter (The global trade in

musk), therefore, only trade of raw musk is examined in detail, since it is possible to quantify the amounts

of this category in trade. 

Trade in raw musk only

As it is possible to quantify the amounts of raw musk in trade, it follows that it is also possible to estimate

the numbers of musk deer implicated.  For this study, such estimates have been made using the following

average values: weight of musk in one musk gland: 25 g (Green, 1989); number of musk deer killed: three

to five animals taken to obtain one male musk deer with a sufficiently large musk gland (Green, 1986;

Jackson, 1979 and Prikhod‘ko, 1997).  The quantity of raw musk in trade is expressed in kilogrammes (kg)

or grammes (g).  Of the 173 available records of musk traded (see Table 2), only six lacked reference to

the weight in trade and these transactions are not included in the analysis that follows.

According to CITES records, there were seven musk deer range States that exported raw musk between

1978 and 1996 (Table 3).  The quantities of raw musk reported in trade differed widely between exporting

countries and their corresponding importing countries (Table 5).  As pointed out in Methodology, this

may be a function of varying reporting methods; of different levels of detail in the reports; of the timing

of the submission of the annual reports; of clerical errors; a question of whether or not the trading State

was a CITES Party; or a combination of these factors. 

Source: WCMC, January 1998.

Figure 2

Percentage of international trade in musk deer

products, including musk, attributable to different conti-

nents, 1978-96, according to CITES annual report data

Asia: 66%

Oceania: 4%

Europe: 11%

America: 18%

Africa: 1%

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