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

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toes are large for their body size and can be spread to find secure footing in mountains and on snow.  Their

coat is thick and includes brittle guard hairs.  Individual hairs contain air-filled cells for better insulation

(Green, 1985).

Taxonomy

Musk deer have been classified with deer in the Cervidae family (Flower, 1875 and Heptner and Naumov,

1961), but today they are grouped together by many scientists into their own separate family, the

Moschidae (Brooke, 1878; Flerov, 1952; Groves and Grubb, 1987 and Whitehead, 1972).  As already

stated, musk deer taxonomy remains debatable.  While it was previously assumed that one to three species

existed (Green, 1986; Groves, 1975 and Grubb, 1982), there are now thought to be at least four and

possibly six or more species (Green, 1998; Groves and Grubb, 1987 and Groves et al., 1995).  There is,

however, broad agreement over the distinctions made for the following four species and their occurrence

(Wemmer, 1998):

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Siberian Musk Deer Moschus moschiferus (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Korea and

Mongolia)

x

Forest Musk Deer M. berezovskii (China and Vietnam)

x

Himalayan Musk Deer M. chrysogaster (Afghanistan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan)

x

Black Musk Deer M. fuscus (Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal).  Some maintain that

this is a subspecies of M. chrysogaster.

Ecology and behaviour

Habitat and ranging behaviour

Musk deer inhabit steep, forested or shrub-covered slopes, mainly in the sub-alpine zones of mountain

regions.  Dense undergrowth of rhododendron, bamboo and other shrubs form the typical habitat

(Bannikov et al., 1978 and Green, 1987a).  Use of the habitat depends upon the availability of cover, food

and other factors: musk deer are very shy and solitary animals that may not become active until dusk.  In

Kedernath, in Northern India, Himalayan Musk Deer are primarily active at night, on exposed alpine

meadows (Green, 1998).

Musk deer are essentially sedentary with individual home ranges of 13-22 ha (Green, 1998, Harris and

Guiquan, 1993).  Previous studies of Himalayan Musk Deer in the Himalayas show no evidence of any

seasonal movement of the animals, such as to lower altitudes in winter (Green, 1987a).  Bannikov et al.

(1978) report, however, that musk deer in Russia

may migrate up to 35 km when snow in winter

deprives them of their usual food and shelter.

Male musk deer are highly territorial, tolerating

only female musk deer within their home ranges

and defending their home range against other

males of the species (Green, 1998), while female

territories may overlap.  In studies in Nepal it was

found that, in regions where the population density

of musk deer is high (23 individuals to 50 ha), the

home range of one male overlaps with parts of the

home ranges of five females but not with parts of

the home range of another male.  However, in

studies in northern India (Green, 1995 and 1998) it

Male Siberian Musk Deer Moschus

moschiferus in winter

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H. Mix

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was found that in cases where the population density was low (five to six individuals/km

2

) the home ranges

did not overlap as much as when densities were high.

Communication between animals

Solitary behaviour is typical for small forest ruminants, such as musk deer, which are guided primarily by

their olfactory sense.  Olfactory signalling between musk deer is highly developed (Lai and Sheng, 1993).

So-called “latrine sites” (areas of droppings), urine markings and the musk scent of males, as well as scent

from other glands found around the hoof and tail areas, are used for marking (Green, 1987c and Sokolov

and Prikhod‘ko, 1979 and 1983).

The function of the musk scent in chemical communication is not entirely understood.  Observations of

red- or pink-stained and sweet-smelling patches of urine in snow indicate that the musk of the male is

probably emitted in the urine, while the urine of females, by contrast, is amber-coloured and does not have

any noticeable smell to humans (Green, 1987c).  The scents could be used for territorial marking by

animals and at the same time express something about the individual status of animals.  Fights between

rivals would in this way be kept to a minimum and females would learn more about potential reproductive

partners.

Reproduction

Musk deer breed seasonally.  The rut extends from November to early January and the young are born from

May to June after a gestation period of 178-198 days.  The period of gestation increases with the size of

the species, from the Forest Musk Deer, the smallest species, to the Siberian Musk Deer, to the Himalayan

Musk Deer, the largest species and that with the longest gestation period (Green, 1989).  Litter size ranges

from one to three young.  Twin births predominate in Forest Musk Deer and Siberian Musk Deer, while

single births are most common in Himalayan Musk Deer.

The birth weight of musk deer varies between about 400 g and 600 g, depending on the species.  In their

first two months, the young musk deer, like all deer species, are “nursed offspring” concealed in the under-

growth and suckled by their mothers.  At the age of about two months they begin to follow their mothers

and are weaned (Green, 1987a).

The young grow rapidly, become independent of their

mothers by the age of six months, and reach sexual

maturity at 18 months of age.  Female musk deer are

capable of breeding after their first year (Green, 1987a

and 1989).  This fact is conducive to quick growth of a

population of musk deer, relative to other large

mammals, given suitable environmental conditions: the

musk deer populations of Russia were brought to the

brink of extinction through over-hunting in the early

part of the twentieth century and were subsequently

able to recover within a few decades. 

Food

The food of musk deer consists primarily of leaves of trees, shrubs and forbs.  They have a preference for

easily digestible nutritious foods that are high in energy content, rich in protein and low in fibre (Green,

1987b and Kholodova and Prikhod‘ko, 1984).  In northern India, forbs and parts of trees and woody shrubs

form the main part of the diet in summer and winter.  In winter the musk deer can also survive on poorer

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Female and young Siberian Musk

Deer Moschus moschiferus

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Frank Me

yer and Bruno Schneider

,

Leipzig Zoo

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