Black and Dusky Musk Deer (Moschus fuscus): Endangered in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal

Strictly speaking, deer species claim:

• Cranial appendages to frontal bones, as horned livestock in the Pecora mammalian infraorder;

• Even-numbered toetips, as hooved members in the Artiodactyla order and Ungulata superorder;

• Four-part stomachs, as rechewed-cud specialists in the Ruminantia suborder.

But scientists differentiate between deer and true deer. The second-mentioned designation evokes such iconic Cervidae family members as:

• Black-tailed (Odocoileus hemionus), fallow (Dama dama), red (Cervus elaphus), roe (Capriolus capriolus), white-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus) deer;

• Caribou, reindeer (Rangifer tarandus);

• Chital (Axis spp);

• Elk, wapiti (Cervus canadensis);

• Moose (Alces alces);

• Pudú (Pudu spp).

The first-mentioned term identifies:

• Africa's and Asia's 10 mouse deer species in the Tragulidae family;

• Asia's seven musk deer species in the Moschidae family.

The musk deer more technically gets called moschid. The term honors the moss-eating, musk-making mammal's membership in:

• The Moschidae family formally described in 1821 by John Edward Gray (February 12, 1800 – March 7, 1875), as Walsall-born British physician, publisher, taxonomist, and zoology keeper at London's British Museum;

• The Moschus genus officially identified in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), as Råshult-born Swedish biologist, botanist, physician, proto-ecologist, proto-taxonomist, and zoologist.

Moschus is the only surviving family member. All seven of the genus's known species lead endangered life cycles and natural histories in Asia. Black and dusky moschids number among the threatened fauna and flora native to:

• Bhutan;

• China;

• India;

• Myanmar;

• Nepal.

Certain habitat niches attract black and dusky moschids to:

• Bhutan;
• Eastern Nepal;
• Northeastern India (especially Arunachal Pradesh);
• Northern Myanmar (especially Khakaborazi National Park);
• Northwestern Yunnan (Bijiang, Fugong, Gongshan counties);
• Southeastern Tibet.

The black and dusky musk deer indeed favors:

• Alpine and sub-alpine habitats;
• Elevations 8,530.18 – 13,779.53 feet (2,600 – 4,200 meters) above sea level;
• High-altitude rocky ridges, tree-lines;
• Moderately steep, stony slopes;
• Monthly actual evapotranspiration of 37.71 inches (957.72 millimeters), precipitation of 6.43 inches (163.32 millimeters), temperature of 42.37°F (5.76°C) in temperature.

They inhabit:

• Dense, rhododendron-dominated shrublands;
• Intact coniferous forests.

They need thick vegetative cover to elude such patient, persistent predators as:

• Leopards;
• Lynxes;
• People (especially agro-industrialists and meat, musk, trophy, and tusk hunters);
• Wolverines;
• Wolves;
• Yellow-throated martens.

Acute senses, camouflaged physiques, and excellent reflexes contribute to black and dusky musk deer survival in difficult terrain against savvy predators. Black and dusky moschids count upon:

• Avoidance through sight-, smell-, sound-detection;
• Escape by climbing, jumping, walking;
• Intimidation by hoof-scratching and pellet-, scent-, and urine-marking communal excrement sites, feeding paths, and watering holes as well as overlapping home and territorial ranges.

They do not apply predictably to offense or self-defense:

• Scent glands at or near eyes, limbs, nose, tail;
• Two fang-like, tusk-functioning upper canines.

The first-mentioned potential defensive and offensive features figure in:

• Cartography;
• Communication;
• Information-gathering;
• Mating.

The second-mentioned possibility operates as a mate-attracting attribute since male tusks protrude during mating seasons and serve that overriding purpose.

Female black and dusky moschids gestate 185 – 195 days before delivering in June or July one yearly single or twin birth. The spotted newborn hovers around 17.64 ounces (500 grams) in weight. The realization of 20-year life expectancies necessitates:

• Accessing the mother’s milk the first 3 – 4 months;
• Becoming respectively physically and sexually mature at 6 and 18 months;
• Claiming homes within 741.32-acre (300-hectare) territories overlapping with those of females, newborns, and youths;
• Displaying adult lengths of 27.56 – 39.37 inches (70 – 100 centimeters) and weights of 22.05 – 33.07 pounds (10 – 15 kilograms);
• Engaging in growling, hissing, kicking, tusking during forced combat;
• Foraging for forbes, grasses, lichens, mosses;
• Grooming;
• Having 6 incisors, 4 canines, 12 premolars, 12 molars.

The world’s known wildlife carries two sets of names:

• Binomial (Greco-Latin, scientific, taxonomic), as Moschus fuscus (per C. Li, 1981) in this case;
• Common (non-scientific, popular), as black and dusky musk deer in this instance.

The two naming systems do not need to emphasize the same features, which typically refer to:

• Distribution ranges;
• Physical features.

But in regard to the moschid in question, the expert and non-expert nomenclatures merge in emphasizing the adult black and dusky musk deer’s signature coloration and scent. They neglect such genus-specific hallmarks as:

• Arched back;
• Big eyes;
• Black nose with hairless muzzle;
• Dark uppersides;
• Light undersides;
• Longer, stronger rear-limbs;
• Pronounced rump;
• Rabbit-like ears;
• Shorter, thinner fore-limbs;
• Sloped withers (ridge between shoulder blades).

The black and dusky musk deer contributes to ecological and economic well-being. Like all of Asia’s moschids, the species in question emerges as a key player in:

• High-altitude vegetation control;
• Mountain food webs.

Similar to all other mule deer species, the black and dusky moschid functions as a key source of:

• Delicious flesh;
• Musky fragrances for incenses, medicines, perfumes, soaps;
• Trophy tusks;
• Warm furs.

The two roles nevertheless furnish contradictory and rough overlaps in:

• Agro-industrialist and tradition-bound interactions;
• Urban and wildland interfaces.

Human geographical expansions and population increases generally have opposite effects upon wildlife bio-geographies and sustainability. But China’s encouragement of musk farms over deer kills is a step in the direction of wildland and wildlife protection.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dusky Musk Deer homelands in Myanmar's northernmost state, Kachin, include sources of Irrawaddy River in Himalayan glaciers.
aerial view of Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady), Myanmar's defining, iconic river: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (Uspn), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Irrawaddy-River-Myanmar-Burma-2005.jpg

John Edward Gray (February 12, 1800 – March 7, 1875): British zoologist is credited with formal description of Moschidae family.
1855 albumen print portrait of John Edward Gray; photograph attributed to Maull & Polyblank: Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Edward_Gray._Photograph._Wellcome_V0027572.jpg

Range map of the black musk deer (Moschus fuscus)
Range based upon Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Vol. 2 (2011) and IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2011): Altaileopard, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moschus_fuscus_map.png

Dusky Musk Deer homelands: Nuranang Falls, also known as Bong Bong Falls or Jang Falls, is located in disputed territory, claimed by both China and India.
Nuranang Falls originate in Sela Pass, high altitude mountain pass, at elevation of 13,680 feet (4,170 meters).
Tawang District, northwestern Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India: Joshua Singh, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshuasingh/4660914022/

Asian golden cat (Pardofelis temminckii, syn. Catopuma temminckii): Overlapping with Dusky Musk Deer in such homelands as Bhutan, India (Arunachal Pradesh), and Myanmar, feline carnivore preys upon small deer, such as musk deer.
Edinburgh Zoo, southeastern Scotland: Karen Stout, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asian_Golden_cat.jpg; kaeryn, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://flickr.com/photos/27428149@N02/4511780622

Black Dusky Musk Deer (Moschus fuscus), an endangered species with homelands in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.
Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology, Yunnan Province, southwestern China: Daderot, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moschus_fuscus_-_Kunming_Natural_History_Museum_of_Zoology_-_DSC02455.JPG

Previously, Dusky Musk Deer (Moschus fuscus) were sometimes considered as subspecies of Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster).
illustration of male Moschus chrysogaster, collected in Sichuan, southwestern China, by Mr. Drouin de Lhuys: Huet, Pinx.; Chromolith: G. Severeyns
H. and A. Milne Edwards, Recherches pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des mammifères: Atlas (1868-1874), Plate 20: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39564186

One of China's Musk Deer Farms is located in Dujiangyan, in central Sichuan.
Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, located in city's northwestern area, comprises an irrigation infrastructure built in 256 BCE.
Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, Min River (岷江, Mínjiāng), central Sichuan Province, southwestern China: Michael Tyler (MichaelTyler), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/lonelyplanetexchange/6349969858/

Himalayan Alpine Fir (Abies densa), also known as Bhutan Fir or Sikkim Fir, is familiar flora in Dusky Musk Deer's eastern Himalayan homelands.
Wangdicholing Palace, Bumthang District, central Bhutan: Andrea Williams from Toronto, Canada, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wangdicholing_Palace_Bhutan.jpg

Dusky Musk Deer overlap in homelands, such as southeastern Tibet and northeastern Bhutan, with Black-Necked Tibetan Cranes (Grus nigricollis).
Yamdrok Lake, Nangartse (Nakartse) County, Shannan Prefecture, southeast Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwest China: Mario Biondi writer, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Necked_Cranes.jpg

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