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

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for musk deer is prohibited by law, Indian musk products continue to appear on the domestic and interna-

tional market. Mongolia is of note for having exported substantial quantities of musk in the mid-1990s to

South Korea.  It is not clear if this amount was harvested in Mongolia itself or in a neighbouring country

(for example, Russia or China) from where it was traded, legally or illegally, to Mongolia.

The role of Russia and other CIS countries

In theory, a workable model for the sustainable exploitation of wild musk deer populations exists in Russia,

based on the system of licensed musk deer hunting, but the fact that export quotas for musk from Russia

are decreasing annually may indicate that populations of the deer in Russia have been falling significantly

for years.  Moreover, the fact that the officially reported exports of musk from Russia in 1995 exceeded

the official export quota set for the year reveals the shortcomings in the control of exploitation of musk

deer in Russia.

The Siberian Musk Deer, although still a widespread species, has a rapidly declining population, currently

estimated at 47 000-52 000 animals.  Most of the population is threatened by commercial exploitation.  The

4000-5000 musk deer estimated to remain in the Russian Far East are acutely threatened by reduction of

their habitat as well as by hunting, legal and illegal, to supply the trade in musk.  There is a significant

amount of illegal trade in musk in the Altai region and in the Russian Far East and the amount of musk

from this region traded with China and South Korea, in particular, is probably significant. 

In the regions of the Altai and Sayan Mountains, the establishment of farms is regarded as particularly

promising and it would appear to be possible to manage 10 000-15 000 musk deer on Russian farms at

comparatively low cost.

Musk deer may occur in Kyrgyzstan in very low numbers but Uzbekistan is not a range State of musk deer,

and it would appear unlikely that more than one hundred kilogrammes of musk could be harvested from

Kyrgyzstan.  The amounts of musk that were reportedly exported from these countries may therefore

actually have originated elsewhere - in all likelihood in the Russian Federation. 

The role of Europe (excluding Russia)

Germany, Switzerland and France play a significant role in the international trade in musk and France has,

at least in the past, consumed musk and is reported to use a small amount still, for the perfume industry.

Above all Germany and, to a lesser degree, Switzerland became important intermediate traders of musk in

the first half of the 1990s.  Virtually all of the musk traded by these two countries originated from Russia

or, formerly, the Soviet Union.  The pre-existing economic relations between Germany and Switzerland,

on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, and the financial strength and security of Germany and

Switzerland in the 1990s may help to explain the development of these trading links.  Before 1996, over

90% of musk imported to France (approximately 97 kg) was probably processed in France itself, where it

is highly likely that a large proportion entered the perfume industry.  In 1996 and 1997, however, France

imported musk from Russia, which it re-exported to Hong Kong.  Almost all the musk imported by

Germany, 1994-96, (approximately 60 kg) and Switzerland, 1989-95, (approximately 12 kg) was re-

exported to East and Southeast Asia.

Illegal trade

There are reports from literature and from musk traders of a high level of illegal trade in Russia and other

CIS countries.  There have been few seizures of illegal shipments of musk in France, Germany and

Switzerland.  The majority of musk confiscated in Europe was in the form of medicinal products manufac-

tured in Asia.  Several hundred of these products containing or purporting to contain musk were confiscated

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during the 1990s in Germany, UK, Belgium and the Netherlands as they lacked the necessary CITES

permits.  From 1978-96 there were no musk derivatives recorded in trade to European countries, except

for reports of trade from China in 1990-92, unconfirmed by the European countries.  It follows that most

products which contained musk or claimed to contain it which appeared on the market in Europe during

that period were probably illegally traded. 

Use of musk

Most perfumers and other experts in the perfume industry agree that very little natural musk has been used

in Germany and Switzerland for a number of years now.  Even France’s perfume industry is increasingly

replacing natural musk with substitutes, although some of the most traditional and most expensive perfume

houses are still using anything between hundreds of grammes and some kilogrammes per year of natural

musk in their products.  The high price of natural musk, uncertainty about constancy of supplies and

consumer demand for products without animal derivatives are rendering natural musk increasingly

unattractive as an ingredient for perfumes.  Synthetic musk imitates the characteristics of natural musk

sufficiently faithfully so that a complete cessation of use of natural musk in the perfume industry is

possible  within a few years.  Some synthetic musk compounds may, however, have harmful effects on the

environment themselves, leaving open the possibility that some companies will continue to process natural

musk, for instance for particularly expensive perfumes or in perfumes developed for particular individuals.

Clear product labelling of perfumes containing natural musk and accompanying CITES permits would

facilitate enforcement efforts in this context.

The incidence of natural musk in perfumes is expected to continue to decline in Europe, according to

industry representatives consulted, but there are indications that natural musk may be used in Russia’s

perfume industry according to A. Vaisman (pers. comm., March 1998), as well as in that of Shanghai and

Arabian countries. 

Analysis of the use of musk in homeopathy revealed that it is small-scale for this form of medicine.  For

example, a few grammes of musk are sufficient to meet the annual demand of homeopaths in Germany

and for German production of medicines for export.  Switzerland and the UK also have very low demand

of only a few grammes of musk, per annum, each, for homeopathic purposes.  Musk from a maximum of

10 animals, and probably fewer, would be sufficient to meet the annual needs of the European homeo-

pathic market.  Although the growing Indian and North American homeopahtic markets have not been

assessed, a rise in demand for musk for homeopathic medicine is unlikely because musk medicines are

only prescribed in highly specific cases, which are not common. 

Musk still is used in some hundreds of traditional East Asian medicines, mainly in China, Korea, India and

other East, South and Southeast Asian countries, to treat a variety of ailments.  It is therefore one of the

most frequently used animal products in TEAM, making it very difficult to find a suitable natural or

synthetic substitute for the treatment of such a variety of complaints. 

Synthetic musk

Today, synthetic musk compounds are an integral part of many cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, detergents and

other products with an odour.  Like natural musk, they are used as a fragrance and also as a fixative for

other fragrances.  Some 30 chemical compounds are economically important.  Artificial musk compounds

constitute the main share of “musk” used in perfume and cosmetics.  They are far less expensive than

natural musk.  The suspected toxicity of nitromusk compounds and polycyclic musk compounds has not,

to date, been adequately documented and requires further investigation.

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