User:Pdolon/Kashmir musk deer

Description
The Kashmir musk deer (Moschus cupreus) is an endangered species of musk deer native to Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. Recent studies have shown that the species is also native to western Nepal. This species was originally described as a subspecies to the alpine musk deer, but is now classified as a separate species. The deer stand at 60 cm (24 in) tall. The male musk deer have tusks, which are used during mating season to compete for females. Musk deer are shy, timid, crepuscular, and nocturnal. Kashmir musk deer are known to be loners, and do not gather or travel in herds.

Size and Weight
Musk deer are very small and compact. Standing at 20-24 inches or 50-60 centimeters tall to the shoulders, but their backend stands slightly higher. They have large ears, no antlers, and very short tails. Musk deer are grayish brown in color, and have long course hair that is very brittle. Unlike all other deer species the musk deer have a gall bladder. The deer often weighs between 15 and 37 pounds.

Diet
Musk deer consume over 130 plant species, in winter arboreal lichens and certain terrestrial bushy lichens are consumed. The deer also eat many plants including but not limited to young shoots, coniferous needles, leaves, buds, the bark of mountain ash, aspens, maple, willows, bird cherry, and honeysuckles. While in summer, herbaceous plants make up their main diet, including but not limited to buckwheat, geranium, some grasses, and spirea.

Males
Male musk deer have long upper canine teeth known as tusks. The tusks project downward from the mouth. These tusks are used to compete for females during mating seasons. Males also have a persistent odor that is used in high grade perfumes. The musk pod is a musk-producing organ located in the deers abdomen. It is a gland located in a pouch or sac that is under the skin of the abdomen in male musk deer. The musk is made of muscone or 3-methylcyclopentadecanone used in the synthesis of these perfumes. the musk is semiliquid but dried to a powder before being added to alcohol to become a perfume.

Endangerment and Human Interaction
The Kashmir musk deer, which is one of seven similar species found throughout Asia. Of the seven species the Kashmir musk deer is the only endangered species due to habitat loss, deforestation, and poachers. The musk deer is used by poachers for its prized scent glands which are used to produce perfumes, traditional medicines and soaps. The musk pod is a musk-producing organ located in the deers abdomen.

In 1855, about 81,200 musk sacs were exported from Russia to China. Just a few years later, Japan imported 100,000 sacs in just a single year. This resulted in the musk deer population diminishing greatly. By 1927 only 5,089 sacs were collected which led tot he musk deer being classified as endangered.

In Afghanistan, there have not been musk deer sightings scientifically reported from 1948 until 2009. A survey conducted in June 2009 by WCS in the province of Nuristan, Afghanistan found at least three specimens. This had confirmed that the species still persists in this country despite unregulated hunting, extensive deforestation, habitat degradation, and the absence of the rule of law. In summer, musk deer inhabit remote alpine scrub on scattered rock outcrops, in upper fringes of closed coniferous forests at elevations of 3,000–3,500 m (9,800–11,500 ft) using invariably steep slopes (≥ 20°). A data-driven geographical model predicted that suitable habitat for musk deer in Afghanistan extends over about 1,300 km2 (500 sq mi) in the contiguous Nuristan (75.5%), Kunar (14.4%) and Laghman Provinces (10.1%). Although relatively vast, the area of habitat potentially available to musk deer in Afghanistan appears to be highly fragmented.

Predators
Other then humans, the musk deer are pray of lynx, wolverines, and yellow-throated martens.

Taxonomy
Musk deer come from the order Artiodactyla and the family Moschidae. Musk deer are extremely hard to identify using only morphological information. Using advanced molecular technologies in taxonomic research, it has become much easier to identify cryptic taxa. While these molecular technologies are not widely applied in South Asia, several species of fauna have been re-discovered and described in the Nepal Himalaya.

Species
There are seven total musk deer species. All occur in the forests and alpine scrublands in the mountains of Asia. Three of theses species the Alpine, Himalayan, and black musk deer have been reported as far as Nepal.


 * Alpine musk deer (M. chrysogaster)
 * Anhui musk deer (M. anhuiensis)
 * Black musk deer (M. fuscus)
 * Forest musk deer (M. berezovskii)
 * Himalayan musk deer (M. leucogaster)
 * Kashmir musk deer (M.cupreus)
 * Siberian musk deer (M. moschiferus)