Kashmir Musk Deer (Moschus cupreus): Poachable Aphrodisiac, Incense, Meat, Medicine, Perfume, Tusks

The place name Kashmir figures in the common, non-scientific, popular name of one of Asia’s seven musk-scented deer species. It hallows the location of the first specimen known to be taxonomized by wildlife-loving specialists for audiences outside Asia and in line with Linnaean faunal and floral classification systems. The formal identification in question indeed links with preserved moschids (musk deers) from the entire Kashmir culture-impacted valley -- between the Great Himalayan and Pir Panjal Mountain Ranges -- of what nowadays subdivides into:

• The Islamic Republic of Pakistan;
• The Republic of India.

But it also references subsequent specimens from Pakistan’s western neighbor. In the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the common name takes the English-language form Afghan fanged deer.

The genus Moschus to which all seven moss-eating, musk-fabricating deer species belong in fact owes its scientific classification and taxonomic recognition in 1758 to Swedish nobleman Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), as:

• Bi-linguist in Latin, Swedish;
• Biologist from Råshult village, Småland province, southern Sweden;
• Botanist;
• Founder of Royal Swedish Academy of Science;
• Inventor of modern ecology and taxonomy;
• Physician;
• Professor and Rector at Uppsala University;
• Publisher of Systema Naturae (“System of Nature”);
• Taxonomist.

The Greco-Latin, scientific, taxonomic name requires:

• Binomialism (two-name nomenclature), whereby the name of the genus is followed by that of its immediate subdivision, the species;
• Trinomialism (three-name nomenclature), whereby genus and species names precede that of the subsequent subdivision, the subspecies.

Some of Asia’s moschid species claim sub-classification into subspecies. But the Kashmir musk deer species currently does not figure among those that do. The species name emerges as cupreus. The Latin masculine singular adjective typically gets translated as “copper-colored.” It highlights the beautiful coloration of the west Asian species. Its inclusion in the complete scientific name is due to the taxonomical expertise in 1982 of Ealing-born English scientist Peter Grubb (1942 – December 23, 2006), as:

• Recipient of the Zoological Society of London’s Thomas Henry Huxley (May 4, 1825 – June 29, 1895) Award for researching Scotland’s Soay sheeps (Ovis aries) on St. Kilda Archipelago, 1968;
• Taxonomist of Africa’s and Asia’s mammal populations;
• Zoologist at the University of Ghana.

Black, brown, copper, grey, and white comingle on the Kashmir musk deer’s physique. Black darkens the eyes and nose. Brown dots the ear-backs and flanks. Copper embellishes the body’s sides and top. Grey gives elegant touches to all body parts. White lightens the head:

• Along the throat;
• Around the eyes;
• At the base of the ears;
• Between the eyes and mouth;
• With dental formulas of 2 canines, 6 pre-molars, and 6 molars equally distributed over the left and right sides of the upper jaw and of 6 incisors, 2 canines, 6 pre-molars, and 6 molars equivalently divided between the left and right sides of the lower jaw.

The enamel looks particularly bright on the male’s mating-season tusks.

The two tusks appear only on Kashmir moschid males. They technically cannot be considered fangs since the two long, pointed canine teeth do not get used in:

• Biting;
• Flesh-eating;
• Venom-injecting.

They function only during the yearly breeding season to:

• Impress females;
• Intimidate rivals.

The Kashmir musk deer indeed has no need of special dentition in order to consume:

• Flowers;
• Foliage;
• Grasses;
• Lichens;
• Mosses;
• Twigs.

There likewise is no reason for employing the tusks to offense or self-defense since the Kashmir musk deer eludes predators through the combination of:

• Acute hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching;
• Agile legs, with the rear pair being longer than the front.

The Kashmir musk deer indeed manages to scale slopes of 20°+ inclines.

After gestating 150 – 180 days, sexually mature 1+-year-olds deliver annually one May- or June-born fawn:

• Weighing 15.52 – 16.58 ounces (440 – 470 grams);
• Welcoming all-milk diets during the first 90 – 120 days.

Physical maturity expresses for both genders:

• Lengths of 31.49 – 39.37 inches (80 – 100 centimeters);
• Shoulder heights of 19.69 – 27.56 inches (50 – 70 centimeters);
• Weights of 15.43 – 37.48 pounds (7 – 17 kilograms).

Adults nimbly handle steep slopes:

• 3,772.97 – 9,842.52 feet (1,150 – 3,000 meters) above sea level during cold weather;
• 9,842.52 – 11,482.94+ feet (3,000 – 35,000+ meters) during warm weather.

They inhabit:

• Alpine meadows, plateaus, scrublands;
• Coniferous (Pinophyta division), fir (Abies spp), oak (Quercus spp), pine (Pinus spp) forests;
• Cushion plant-rich fell-fields;
• Juniper (Juniperus squamata), rhododendron (Rhododendron spp) shrublands.

Kashmir moschids escape detection within summertime home and territorial ranges. But snowfall forces them altitudinally downward. Elevations below 9,842.52 feet (3,000 meters) give them less anonymity and higher visibility. More human-scalable heights let rifle- and snare-wielding hunters kill, maim, or trap endangered Kashmir moschids because of year-round predictability in:

• Feeding paths;
• Resting perches atop anthills, crests, hills, ridges;
• Sheltering pits under branched trees, protruding rocks, and sloped trees and within bushy thickets;
• Waste-dropping places;
• Watering points at rivulets.

Wild Kashmir moschids may survive in:

• Afghanistan’s Nuristan Forest National Reserve;
• Azad Kashmir’s Machiara National Park, Mori Said Ali, Phalla, Toli Pir.

But sustainable populations throughout western Asia require sustainability of:

• Environmental education;
• Government protection;
• Scientific research;
• Wildlife-loving activism.

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

native landscapes of Kashmir Musk Deer: Skardu Town, at elevation of 7,303 feet (2,226 meters), in Karakoram Range
Karakoram encompasses world's highest concentration of peaks over 26, 246-plus feet (8000-plus meters) in height. After polar regions, Karakoram is world's most heavily glaciated area.
view from Skardu Fort, Gilgit–Baltistan, northernmost Pakistan; disputed Kashmir region: Waqas Usman (Waqas.usman), CC BY SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SkarduFromFort1175.JPG

Kashmir Musk Deer native range: Upper Kachura Lake in Karakoram Range, with a depth of 230 feet (70 metres), is sited amidst floral richness in Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests.
Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, northernmost Pakistan: disputed Kashmir region: Drnajeebansari at English Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upper_Kachura_Lake_Skardu.JPG

Musk deer genus, Moschus, exemplifies the phenomenal attention to detail that was intrinsic to genius of Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778).
1920 statue of Carl Linnaeus by Swedish sculptor Carl Eldh (May 10, 1873 – January 26, 1954)
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, northeastern Ohio: Daderot, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cleveland_Museum_of_Natural_History_-_Carolus_Linnaeus_by_Carl_Eldh.jpg

Himalayan Musk Deer (Moschus leucogaster): Kashmir Musk Deer, formerly considered a subspecies of Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster), is similar in appearance to Himalayan Musk Deer.
Richard Lydekker, The Great and Small Game of India, Burma, and Tibet (1900), Plate VII, Figure 5, between pages 238-239: Boston Public Library, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/greatsmallgameof1900lyde/page/n287/mode/1up; Boston Public Library, "Copyright Status: Not provided. Contact Holding Institution to verify copyright status," via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27504296

Himalayan pines (Pinus wallichiana) dot the Karakoram Range in Kashmir Musk Deer homelands in northern Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan) and northern India (Jammu and Kashmir).
Pine needles are delectable edibles for musk deer (Moschus).
Pahalgam, western Jammu and Kashmir State, northern India: prakhar on Flickr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinus_wallichiana_Pahalgham.jpg

Kashmir Musk Deer overlap with predators such as endangered snow leopards (Panthera uncia syn. Uncia uncia) in Hemis National Park (eastern Ladakh) and Khunzerav National Park (northeast Gilgit-Baltistan).
Mikmar, snow leopard at home in Hemis National Park, also known as Hemis High Altitude National Park
eastern Ladakh region, eastern Jammu and Kashmir State, northern India: Rodney Jackson, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mikmar.jpg

Himalayan birch (Betula utilis), known locally as bhojpatra
English naturalist Richard Lydekker (July 25, 1849 – April 16, 1915) noted prevalence of musk deer in birch forests, above pine zones, of Kashmir.
Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, northern India: J.M. Garg, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_Birch_(Bhojpatra)_I_IMG_3405.jpg

Kashmir Musk Deer may be found in Machiara National Park in northeastern Pakistan's deeply forested Neelam Valley.
Neelam Valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern Pakistan: Murtaza Mahmud from Islamabad, Pakistan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Azad_kashmir.jpg

Kashmir Musk Deer homelands: Ladakh region, formerly Himalayan Kingdom of Ladakh, northern India
Altitudinous and precipitous, landlocked Ladakh offers appealing habitats for Kashmir Musk Deer.
Leh, eastern Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir State, northern India: Sushant gupta, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Leh_from_Shanti_Stupa.jpg

Kashmir Musk Deer homelands include the Karakoram Range, stretching from Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan south into Ladakh in northern India.
Milky Way from Concordia Camp, confluence of Baltoro Glacier and Godwin-Austen Glacier, in Karakoram Range
Karakoram Range, Gilgit-Baltistan (disputed Kashmir region), northern Pakistan: Anne Dirkse (www.annedirkse.com), CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Milky_Way_at_Concordia_Camp,_Karakoram_Range,_Pakistan.jpg

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