Moschus leucogaster

Geographic Range

Himalayan musk deer reside in the Himalayan mountain range, particularly within the countries of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and a small part of China. The geographic range of the Himalayan musk deer has sharply declined in recent years due to predation, trapping by humans, and habitat destruction.

• Biogeographic Regions
• palearctic palearctic
• oriental oriental

Habitat

Himalayan musk deer are thought to inhabit a similar habitat to their close relative Moschus chrysogaster , which occupies meadows, shrublands, and sparse forests, such as fir forests. Because Himalayan musk deer roam at elevations higher than 2,500 m, their habitat predominantly consists of vegetation typical of alpine regions. This mountainous species is accustomed to navigating moderately to very steep slopes.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest forest
• mountains mountains

Physical Description

Himalayan musk deer weigh around 11 to 18 kg and are 86 to 100 cm in length. They are sandy brown in color, with slightly darker rumps and limbs. The ventral side of their bodies ranges from gray to white. The rounded backs and long alert ears of the Himalayan musk deer contribute to their "hare-like" resemblance. Although both sexes have long upper canines, the males' grow longer, up to 7 to 10 cm. The canines break easily, but tooth growth is continuous. In addition, male Himalayan musk deer have a musk sac (between their reproduction organs and umbilicus) and a caudal gland (at the base of their tail), both of which play a role in communication. The musk gland attracts females during mating season, and the caudal gland is used to mark territory. Uniquely, the females have a single pair of mammae. Himalayan musk deer also have gall bladders, a characteristic that distinguishes musk deer from other deer . Additionally, musk deer do not have antlers.

Moschus leucogaster was once considered the same species as Moschus chrysogaster , as both species have similar life history traits and characteristics. Moschus leucogaster was separated from Moschus chrysogaster based on skull size proportions, though it is difficult to distinguish one species from another by sight. Groves, Yingxiang, and Grubb (1995) suggest a difference in the appearance of the throat: while M. chrysogaster have distinct white stripes or a white patch on their throats, this characteristic is vague in Moschus leucogaster , if present at all.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

Reproduction

During the mating season, male Himalayan musk deer become anxious, competitive, and eat little. While protecting their territory, which encompasses the home ranges of several females, males fight one another using their long canine teeth as weapons. The females demonstrate exhaustion and attempt to stay in hiding. The male's musk sac is key in attracting females during the mating season; the sac emanates a strong smell meant to lure the females from hiding.

Himalayan musk deer mate between November and January, although some females may not mate until March. The gestation period is 185 to 195 days. One to two young are typically born between May and June and nurse from their mother for about 2 months. During this time, the young remain in hiding, independent of their mothers except when feeding.

Around 6 months of age, young Himalayan musk deer are weaned and able to consume food from their surroundings, becoming completely independent. Young deer become sexually mature by 16 to 24 months of age.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual

Parental investment is minimal in Himalayan musk deer. Young deer nurse from their mothers when necessary but otherwise stay in hiding, unaccompanied by either parent.

• Parental Investment
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • female

Lifespan/Longevity

Himalayan musk deer typically live for 10 to 14 years in the wild.

Behavior

Himalayan musk deer are solitary, terricolous creatures that usually try to conceal themselves in vegetation. They are primarily active during the morning and evening hours, often when feeding. Himalayan musk deer have a distinctive bounding gait. They can jump as far as 6 m, which is advantageous when being chased by slower predators. Some cervids , including the Himalayan musk deer, tend to designate certain areas as latrines, choosing a spot used only for deification. They urinate elsewhere. Although the reason for this behavior is unknown, it is increasingly practiced during the mating season.

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• crepuscular crepuscular
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• solitary solitary
• territorial territorial

Home Range

Himalayan musk deer are sedentary, occupying small home ranges of up 0.22 km^2, though males defend a much larger territory. Male Himalayan musk deer are quite territorial of other males and fight those which attempt to enter their territory. Members of this species are thought to use latrine sites and other strong-smelling secretions to mark their territory.

Communication and Perception

Himalayan musk deer have a highly acute sense of smell. As a result, males mark their territories by rubbing their caudal gland against vegetation. This secretion also deters rivals during the breeding season. Himalayan musk deer make a double hiss sound when alarmed and may even scream when wounded. They are also alerted danger through their good sense of hearing.

• Communication Channels
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• scent marks scent marks

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Himalayan musk deer are herbivores and feed on what is seasonally available. Accordingly, they eat grasses, forbs, mosses, lichen, twigs, shoots, and plant leaves. They are ruminants, so they can quickly leave feeding grounds if threatened and further digest their food at a later time when safe from harm.

Occasionally, Himalayan musk deer travel great distances at night to forage for food. They may travel 3 to 7 km per night, but they always return to their usual territories by daybreak.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • folivore folivore

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• wood, bark, or stems
• bryophytes
• lichens

• Other Foods
• fungus

Predation

Himalayan musk deer attempt to conceal themselves within vegetation to avoid predators. The dull brown color of their coats minimizes their chance of detection. Predators include leopard , lynx , yellow-throated marten , red fox , grey wolf , wild dogs, and humans . Large birds of prey also occasionally kill young musk deer. When chased, Himalayan musk deer seek mountainside shelters in which to hide. If none are easily found, the deer use their speed to run in circles, hoping to lose the predator. Himalayan musk deer, however, tire easily, usually after 200 to 300 m of running. They can jump as far as 6 m, which is advantageous when being chased by slower predators

The male musk sac is highly sought after by humans, and hunting and trapping have caused declines in Himalayan musk deer populations. Traps kill not only the desired males, but also females and young deer.

Ecosystem Roles

As herbivores, Himalayan musk deer facilitate seed dispersal in their environment. Seeds are moved as deer forage and also may cling to their fur. Additionally, Himalayan musk deer are preyed on by leopard , lynx , yellow-throated marten , red fox , grey wolf , wild dogs, and occasionally birds of prey.

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

The musk sac of male musk deer is highly sought after by humans. Around 25 g of musk can be extracted from a single musk sac. At market, 1 kg of musk can be worth $45,000 USD, a figure which increases as species populations decrease. Musk is an important component in perfume and is also used in traditional medicinal practices. Additionally, Himalayan musk deer are sought by local people for their fur and meat, which is considered a delicacy.

• Positive Impacts
• food food
• body parts are source of valuable material
• source of medicine or drug source of medicine or drug

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

The are no known adverse effects of Himalayan musk deer on humans.

Conservation Status

Himalayan musk deer are listed as endangered on both the IUCN Red List and the US Federal List. CITES lists the small number of Himalayan musk deer that inhabit China in Appendix II and all other Himalayan musk deer in Appendix I.

Himalayan musk deer are threatened by hunting, habitat fragmentation, habitat reduction, and habitat destruction. Because it is difficult to distinguish Himalayan musk deer from similar species such as Moschus chrysogaster , the exact rates of their population declines are debatable. Although many musk deer reside in one of several protected areas, poaching activities continue to increase as musk becomes more valuable.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Jaclyn Plummer (author), Northern Michigan University, John Bruggink (editor), Northern Michigan University, Gail McCormick (editor), Animal Diversity Web Staff.

References

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 .

Green, M. 1978. Himalayan musk deer (Moschus leucogaster). Pp. 56-64 in Threatened Deer . Oxford: Alden Press. Accessed January 18, 2011 at http://books.google.com/books?id=726qparJDBgC&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=himalayan+musk+deer&source=bl&ots=tbhxfDClJ_&sig=_1yJ8yJ2YH9e4Y1Y2lJdF1QT7hc&hl=en&ei=CNK9Sa_qMoTFnQfe2LihBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA62,M1 .

Groves, C., W. Yingxiang, P. Grubb. 1995. Taxonomy of Musk Deer, Genus Moschus (Moschidae, Mammalia). Acia Theriologica Sinica , 15/3: 181-197. Accessed April 25, 2009 at http://arts.anu.edu.au/grovco/GrovesWangGrubb.pdf .

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Timmins, R., J. Duckworth. 2008. "Moschus leucogaster" (On-line). Accessed March 20, 2009 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/13901 .

Wilson, D., D. Reeder. 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed) . Johns Hopkins University: Johns Hopkins University Press. Accessed March 17, 2009 at http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=14200198 .

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