Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus) Endangered in China, Korea (North, South), Mongolia, Russia

Common, informal, non-scientific, popular, and traditional names are intended to:

• Highlight memorable geographical associations and physical features;
• Honor local and regional nomenclatures passed down by an area’s peoples.

Formal, Greco-Latin, official, scientific, and taxonomic names attest to scientific interest in and investigation of faunal and floral life forms which may or may not be known to non-scientists. They likewise consider in their configurations:

• Commemorating specimen collectors and researchers;
• Describing hallmark colors;
• Emphasizing bio-geographical frequencies.

They fit into duo-partite or tri-partite identification systems. Binomialism (“two-name”) lets taxonomists categorize animals and plants by:

• Genus;
• Species.

Trinomialism (“three-name”) offers further division into subspecies, of which there must be at least two. The first-known subspecies repeats the name of the species.

Trinomialism applies to some -- but not all -- of Asia’s musk deer species. It differentiates species by:

• Regions within homelands;
• Traits within physiques.  

The Siberian musk deer emerges as one such moschid genus member whose complete taxonomy involves three names. The genus and the species, Moschus moschiferus, hallow formal analyses in 1758 by ennobled biologist, botanist, physician, proto-ecologist, proto-taxonomist, publisher, and zoologist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778) of Råshult village, Småland Province, southern Sweden. The list of subspecies is as follows:

• Moschus moschiferus moschiferus -- Mongolia, Russia;
• M.m. arcticus (Flerov, 1929) and M.m. turovi (Zalkin, 1945) -- Russia;
• M.a. parvipes (Hollister, 1911) -- China, North Korea, South Korea;
• M.m. sachalinensis (Flerov, 1929) -- Sakhalin Island.

The Siberian musk deer appears in:

• China;
• Mongolia;
• North Korea;
• Russia (Far Eastern, Siberian Federal Districts);
• South Korea.

All five subspecies occupy similar niches. They prefer:

• Altitudes 8,530.18 – 11,811.02 feet (2,600 – 3,600 meters) above sea level;
• Forested, north-facing, steep slopes;
• Lichen-rich coniferous forests, shrublands;
• Mountain taiga (mixed forests of broadleaves -- especially birch [Betula spp] -- and conifers -- especially larch [Larix spp], pine [Pinus spp], spruce [Picea spp]);
• Rocky outcrops, promontories;
• Summer-accessed, wooded river valleys -- of bilberry (Vaccinium spp), cereals, grasses, wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) -- at heights below 5,249.34 feet (1,600 meters) or above 6,233.59 feet (1,900 meters);
• Wintry evapotranspiration of 12.51 inches (317.71 millimeters), precipitation of 1.23 inches (31.16 millimeters), temperatures of 16.92°F (-8.38°C).

Craggy slopes, forested mountains, and river valleys let Siberian moschids realize life cycles and natural histories. They offer 5.64 – 9.35 ounces (160 – 265 grams) in crepuscular, nocturnal forages for:

• Summer’s flowers, forbs, grasses, leaves, lichens, mosses, twigs;
• Winter’s bark, berries, cereals, leaves, lichens, mushrooms, needles, twigs.

They permit:

• Home and territorial ranges respectively of 4.94 – 24.71 acres (2 – 10 hectares) and 494.21 – 741.32 acres (200 – 300 hectares);
• Overlapping lairs of 5 – 7 females and young per dominant male;
• 7 – 10 latrines and urinals per home range.

They provide cover for:

• Breeding November, December;
• Calving April, May, June.

They supply shelter from:

• Foxes (Vulpes vulpes);
• Lynxes (Lynx lynx);
• Wolverines (Gulo gulo);
• Wolves (Canis lupus);
• Yellow-throated martens (Martes flavigula).

Communal and individual survival gets prioritized in dusk-to-dawn lifestyles during life expectancies of:

• 10 – 14 years in nature;
• 12 - 20 years in captivity.

Adult females have to furnish their annual 1 – 2 newborns:

• Milk-based meals;
• Secure hideaways;
• Weaning in 3 – 4 months.

They model:

• Forages of 1.86 – 4.35 miles (3 – 7 kilometers);
• Hissed vocalizations;
• Jumps of 8.2 - 16.4 feet (2.5 - 5 meters);
• Migrations of 21.75 miles (35 kilometers);
• Stamina for 656.18 – 984.25 feet (200 – 300 meters);
• Tree-climbs of 4.59 feet (1.40 meters);
• Turns of 90° aerially;
• Walks over crusted snow 23.62 – 27.56 inches (60 – 70 centimeters) deep.

Sustainability requires:

• Physical and sexual maturity in 18 months;
• Yearly gestations by two-thirds of all adult females.

Offenses and self-defenses involve:

• Anal, nasal, orbital, tail scent glands;
• 1 canine, 3 premolars, 3 molars per left and right upper jaw;
• 3 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, 3 molars per left and right lower jaw.

Upper canines measure 3.15 – 3.94 inches (8 – 10 centimeters) long for males to attract mates, not impale predators. Adulthood realizes:

• Bodies 23.62 – 39.37 inches (60 – 100 centimeters) long;
• Shoulders 20.47 – 26.38 inches (52 – 67 centimeters) high;
• Tails 1.18 – 2.36 inches (3 – 6 centimeters) long;
• Weights of 17.64 – 35.27 pounds (8 – 16 kilograms).

Self-preservation requires:

• Acute senses;
• Arched spines;
• Big-eyed, dark-nosed, kangaroo-like, rabbit-eared head;
• Grizzled-brown, summer-soft, winter-coarse coat;
• Longer, stronger hind-limbs;
• Two-toed dewclaw, two-toed hoof per foot;
• White-yellow chest, flank, neck markings.

Endangered habitats and threatened populations emerge as ironic downsides of:

• Modern-minded versus tradition-bound interactions;
• Urban versus wildland interfaces.

For example, agro-industrialism emphasizes people-friendly, wildlife-unfriendly environmental reconfigurations of:

• Enterprises, factories;
• Farms, ranches;
• Roads;
• Suburbs.

Exotic flesh-, fragrance-, and fur-seeking hunters endanger wildlife populations along wild edges and within wild habiats. The Siberian musk deer gets caught between the above-mentioned extremes because of:

• Marketability to powerful, wealthy clienteles;
• Predictability in communal excrement sites, feeding places, resting points, watering holes;
• Self-defenselessness.

Problem-solving is challenged in such contexts pitting nature’s and people’s well-being. But it remains do-able with:

• Formal and non-formal environmental education programs;
• Government protection (nature reserves);
• Musk farm inspections;
• Scientific research;
• Wildlife-loving activism for fur, meat, musk, trophy alternatives.

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

Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus)
engraved by I. Nufsbiegel
J.C.D. Schreber, Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen: Plates 166-280 (1774-1855), Plate CCXLII: Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLib), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/8610051024; Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31059650

illustration of male Moschus moschiferus collected ca. 1867 in mountains near Peiping (Beijing) by Henri Victor Fontanier (September 1830 - June 21, 1870), French Consul at Peiping, 1869 - 1870.
Huet, pinx.; Chromolith: G. Severeyns
H. and A. Milne Edwards, Recherches pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des mammifères: Tome seconde: Atlas (1868-1874), Plate 19: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39564182

Range map of the Siberian musk deer (Moschus moschiferus)
Range based upon B. Nyambayar, H. Mix & K. Tsytsulina. 2008. Moschus moschiferus. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: Altaileopard, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moschus_moschiferus_map.png

Siberian Musk Deer floral synecology: wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius), natives of northern China, Japan, and Korea
ripe and unripe wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius): Wouter Hagens, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rubus_phoenicolasius_B.jpg

Siberian Musk Deer faunal synecology: female wolverine (Gulo gulo), undaunted predator of Siberian Musk Deer
Korkeasaari Zoo (Finnish: Korkeasaaren eläintarha), priorly known as Helsinki Zoo; Korkeasaari Island, Helsinki, southern Finland: Uusijani, Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wolverine_(Gulo_gulo),_Korkeasaari.JPG

male Siberian musk deer (Moschus moschiferus)
Males have long downward-pointing tusklike upper canines.
Plzeň Zoo, Western Bohemia, western Czech Republic: Николай Усик / http://paradoxusik.livejournal.com/, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moschus_moschiferus_in_Plzen_zoo_(12.02.2011).jpg

several views of skull of Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus)
Muséum de Toulouse, also known as MHNT (Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de la ville de Toulouse), southwestern France: Didier Descouens (Archaeodontosaurus), CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Porte_musc_global.jpg

Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus) habitat: Biome of the taiga is characterized by coniferous forests, mostly of larches (Larix), pines (Pinus), and spruces (Picea).
Siberian Musk Deer favors taiga in Northeast Asia, especially in southern Siberia.: ErikAdamsson, Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Siberian_Musk_Deer.jpg

Siberian Musk Deer floral synecology: Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) along Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea
Kumgangsan ("Diamond Mountains"), North Korea, just north of Demilitarized Zone buffer zone between the two Koreas: yeowatzup at Flickr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinus_densiflora_Kumgangsan.jpg

Siberian Musk Deer habitat: Lake Baikal, world's deepest and oldest freshwater lake; two-thirds of the lake's 1700 fauna and flora are only found there; inscribed in 1996 as UNESCO World Heritage Site
Olkhon Island and Lake Baikal, southeastern Siberia, southeastern Russia: Jason Rogers, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olkhon_Island_and_Lake_Baikal.jpg

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