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Common name:
Musk Deer
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| Scientific Name:
Moschus spp. |
| Distribution:
Asia |
| Cites Listing:
Appendix 1 (Himalayan popn.) |
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History and Distribution
:
Musk deer occur in at least 13 countries in Asia and the
Russian far-east. The Siberian Musk deer (Moshus moschiferus)
lives in China, Mongolia, North- and South Korea, Russia,
Kazakstan and Kirgistan. The forest-Musk deer(M. berezovskii)
occurs in China and Vietnam. The Himalaya Musk deer (M.
chrysogaster) is found in the western region of the Himalayas,
from Afghanistan and Pakistan to China, in India and Nepal.
The black Musk deer (M. fuscus) lives in the eastern Himalayas
in Buthan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal. The word 'musk'
derives from the ancient Indian word for testicles. This
probably alludes to the musk sac of the male musk deer
that is located close to the male genitals. |
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Geographic Range
:
Moschus chrysogaster (Himalayan musk deer) lives along
the Himalayas in Nepal, northern India, southern China,
Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Pakistan . |
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Physical Description
:
Himalayan musk deer looks like a small deer with long
upper canines that are visible even when the mouth is
closed. Its tail is hairless except for a small tuff at
the end, and it has long "hare-like" ears. It has an externally
visible musk sac that lies between its reproductive organs
and umbilicus. The opening to the sac lies anterior to
the urethra. A musk deer is about 60cm tall and has a
shoulder height of about 20cm. Musk deer have a caudal
gland at the base of their tails . |
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| Mass: 10
to 15 kg. |
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| Length: 100
cm (average) |
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Lifepsan/Longevity
:
The average lifespan of captive bred M. chrysogaster is
2.4 years. The average lifespan of wild caught captive
M. chrysogaster is about 7 years. The oldest captive Dwarf
musk deer (M. berezovskii) from China had a lifespan of
20 years (Sathyakumar,1993) . |
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| Expected Lifespan
In Wild: 3.1 years (average) |
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| Max Lifespan
In Captivity: 17 years (max) |
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| Expected Lifespan
In Captivity: 2.4 years (avg) |
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| Natural
History |
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Food Habits :
M. chrysogaster is a ruminant. It can live on poor quality
food. In autumn and winter, it mostly eats forbs and the
woody plant leaves of trees and shrubs such as oak and
gaultheria. In spring and summer, its diet consists mainly
of forbs and lichens. |
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Foods Eaten :
 Forbs
·
Oak
leaves ·
Gaultheria
leaves |
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Reproduction
:
The mating season is December to January. |
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Behavior :
M. chrysogaster is a solitary animal with a "bounding
gait". The adult males are probably territorial. One interesting
aspect of the species is that they usually defecate (but
never urinate) at a latrine, which is a spot designated
by M chrysogaster as a "toilet". They always squat when
urinating or defecating. |
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| They scent mark
by rubbing the caudal gland located at the base of their
tail against plants. This leaves a greasy smear on the
plant. |
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Global Distribution:
India, Nepal, China, Tibet, Korea, Russia, Bhutan. |
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Current Regional
Distribution:
Indian himalya- Kashmir to sikkim. |
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