White-bellied musk deer

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White-bellied Musk Deer
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Moschidae
Genus: Moschus
Species: M. leucogaster
Binomial name
Moschus leucogaster
Hodgson, 1839

The White-bellied or Himalayan musk deer (Moschus leucogaster) is a musk deer species occurring in the Himalayas of Nepal, Bhutan, northern India including Sikkim and China. It is listed as Endangered by IUCN because of over-exploitation resulting in a probable serious population decline.[1] It is the state animal of Uttarakhand.

It used to be considered a subspecies of the Alpine musk deer but was separated on the basis of different skull proportions.[2]

Characteristics

The Himalayan musk meer is very well adapted for high altitudes; they demonstrate such adaptations as well-developed dewclaws, broad toes that provide increased stability on steep slopes, and a dense coat of coarse hairs with air-filled cells to insulate against the extreme temperature.[3] While they lack antlers, a trait notable among all musk deer, they do possess a pair of enlarged and easily broken canines that grow continuously. The maximum length of these tusks is approximately ten centimeters.[4][5] These deer have a stocky body type; their hind legs are also significantly longer and more muscular than their shorter, thinner forelimbs. In place of running or leaping, this species tends to "bound." Finally, fawns of this species have white spots to help with camouflage, but as they mature these spots disappear.

The Himalayan musk deer has a waxy substance called musk that the male deer secrets from a gland in the abdomen. The deer use this to mark territories and attract females. But the musk is also been used in the manufacture of perfumes, and medicines.[6]

Distribution and habitat

Himalayan musk deer is found in parts of northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and in northern parts of India such as in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. It inhabits high alpine environments, with the lowest occurring altitude at 2500 m above sea level. The species is endangered due to a high volume of illegal wildlife trade within its range.[citation needed]

Ecology and behaviour

Shy and secretive during the day when it hides in dense cover, at night the Himalayan musk deer emerges to feed in more open habitats. This species prefers to select the leaves of trees and shrubs with a high protein and low fibre content, but during the winter it may subsist on poorer quality lichens, although it may climb small trees to feed upon leaves that would otherwise be out of reach.[7] The Himalayan musk deer is a fairly sedentary species, occupying a small home range of up to 22 hectares. The males are fiercely territorial, only allowing females to enter their range. Territories are marked by carefully placed defecation sites and strong-smelling secretions, which are placed onto the surrounding plants[6]

Himalayan musk deer males fight each other over females during the mating season. The males use there long canines to fight and defend their territory. The females on the other hand hind from all the commotion. For the males to attract the females and bring them out from hiding, they use their strong smelling musk. Those with a good smell will attract the females and mate with them.

A female will have up to one or two young. The young musk deer will live off the mothers milk till it is about six months old and able to eat regular foods available in the wild. It is not until they are sixteen to twenty four months old that they become sexually mature[6][7]

Himalayan musk deer can live up to 10 to 14 years old.[citation needed] Their predators include the leopard, Eurasian lynx, yellow-throated marten, red fox and gray wolf.[8]

Threats

Being that the musk the deer produces is a priority in making perfumes and medicines, this makes it highly valuable. And since the species is endangered and hard to find, this makes it more valuable in the wildlife trade market. The hunting and trade of the Himalayan Musk Deer is the main threat to the species. The deers musk may sell for as much as $45,000 per kilogram, making it one of the most valuable animal-derived products in the world [9] Hunters catch and kill the deer using snares. Only males produce the musk and this creates a problem because females and young are caught in the traps and killed.

Conservation

The Himalayan musk deer is protected by law in Bhutan, Nepal and India. In China, hunting may be permitted in some areas, although a license is required. This Endangered species is also found in a number of protected areas; however, the uneven enforcement of legislation across its range has meant there has been little impact on preventing the rampant trade in the species.[10] Improving the enforcement of anti-poaching laws is deemed a key priority for the conservation of this species.

Efforts being made

Captive-deer farming for musk has been developed in China, and so far this has shown that it is possible to extract musk from a deer without having to kill it. However, the captive deer succumb to disease, fighting and producing poorer quality musk. So far killing wild deer is thought to be the most cost-effective method for extracting musk.[11] Open farming is a possible new way to extract the musk, whereby free ranging or wild musk deer are caught and the musk then extracted, allowing the species to be conserved and survive[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Timmins, R. J., Duckworth, J. W. (2008). "Moschus leucogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 
  2. ↑ Groves, C. P., Yingxiang, W., Grubb, P. (1995). Taxonomy of Musk-Deer, Genus Moschus (Moschidae, Mammalia). Acta Theriologica Sinica 15(3): 181–197.
  3. ↑ Ultimate Ungulate (May, 2010)http://www.ultimateungulate.com/cetartiodactyla/moschidae.html.
  4. ↑ Nowak, R. M. (1999). Walker’s Mammals of the World. Sixth edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London
  5. ↑ Rajchal, R. (2006). Population Status, Distribution, Management, Threats and Mitigation Measures of Himalayan Musk Deer (Moschus chyrogaster) in Sagarmatha National Park. Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme, Babarmahal, Kathmandu, Nepal
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Macdonald, D. (2001). The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Homes, V. (2004). No Licence to Kill: the Population and Harvest of Musk Deer and Trade in Musk in the Russian Federation and Mongolia. TRAFFIC Europe, Brussels
  8. ↑ Aryal, A. 2005. Status and distribution of Himalayan Musk deer ‘Moschus chrysogaster’ in Annapurna Conservation Area of Manang District, Nepal. UK: ITNC. Accessed April 25, 2009 at http://www.itnc.org/FinalReportonMuskdeerManang.pdf.
  9. ↑ 10.National Geographic – Poachers Target Musk Deer for Perfumes, Medicines (May, 2010) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0907_040907_muskdeer.html.
  10. ↑ 1Wemmer, C. (1998). Deer: Status Survey and Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Deer Specialist Group, Cambridge
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Meng, X., Zhou, C., Hu, J., Li, C., Meng, Z., Feng, J. and Zhou, Y. (2006). Musk deer farming in China. Animal Science 82: 1–6.

External links

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