WHAT IS A MUSK DEER:
Image 1: The Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus)
(Image attribution details, in References below)
Musk is an animal product found in a unique looking deer, which is found at very high altitudes of Siberia, China, Nepal, India and Tibet. Renowned for its strong fragrance and medical uses, musk, or 'kasturi' as it is known in Indian language, is present in a gland, just behind the navel of the animal in semi-liquid form. Extremely in demand from ancient times across the world, due to its unique scent and medicinal qualities, the musk deer was subjected to illegal killing, for the musk gland it possesses naturally and could not be retrieved from a live deer.
Image 2 : Musk Based Products
(Image attribution details, in References below)
20 RIVETING FACTS ABOUT MUSK AND THE MUSK DEER:
- Musk deer have hairy body, mostly brown or black. The lower body is white or gray. The hind legs are longer than their fore legs and the feet have very strong pointed nails. The legs are shaped in a way to help them easily move on snowy hills as well as planes.
- They are shy, lonely, crepuscular and feed on the moss, grass, lichens, flowers, seedlings and leaves in the hills. They prefer to be on hills in winters and at lower altitudes in summers, where there are water bodies.
- Availability of musk is rare in Global market. One gram of musk costs about INR 20,000 or 1 kilogram of musk costs approximately USD 45,000 in the international market.
- It is used in medicines for regulating blood circulation, treating erectile dysfunction, heart diseases, skin and nerve problems, used as antispasmodic and aphrodisiac, since ancient times, and even today.
- The organic substance that releases the musk odor from the gland of the deer is known as Muscone
- Musk is commonly considered a male fragrance, due to its strong odor, but nowadays, it is used in ladies cosmetics too. It is mostly used in perfumed cosmetics like talcum powder, expensive perfumes, beauty creams and body oils.
- Musk gland is fetched from the lower abdominal part, that is just behind the naval, close to the reproductive organ and the caudal sacks under the tail of a Musk deer.
- Only the male deer has the musk gland to attract the females for mating in winters. It passes the fragrance through its urine at a particular season.
- A male musk deer has no antlers, instead it has two visible fangs like canines, that protrude out of its jaws, pointing backwards; much like a pickaxe tool. These make it easier for the animal to dig through the soil for food in the hills.
- Musk is used as a base note, the scent, that prevents the volatile perfume from evaporation and helps the fragrance to last long. But the process happens only after its extraction from the dead deer, which when present inside the living animal, is in a semi liquid form, and changes to dark solid soil like substance post extraction.
- The Musk ball 'pod' or the gland looks hairy all over and is found in three colors, brown, maroon and bluish brown. The maroon being the strongest in fragrance.
- The Himalayan Musk deer (Moschus leucogaster), the Alpine musk deer( Moschus chryogaster) and the Kashmir musk (Moschus cupreous) are now considered as 'Endangered' species in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list.
- Its conservation has been undertaken by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Conservation centers are present in China, Nepal and India in the state of Uttarakhand. The Siberian Musk deer also has been included in the 'vulnerable range' of IUCN.
- Although musk can be extracted from a live deer as well, but the process is time-consuming and hence illegally hunting the deer followed by the extraction and selling of the musk sac is preferred by poachers.
- Nearly 20 grams of musk can be retrieved from a single gland or 'pod'.
- It is seen that a captive bred musk deer could not produce good quality of musk as compared to the one that lives and grows in the sanctuary or a deer park.
- Original musk, when burnt, melts gradually, leaving bubbles. It never converts to ash instantly, unlike the fake ones available in the market.
- Original Musk, retains its fragrance for as long as 40 years, especially if kept in the sunlight. It has a wonderful, natural quality to regain its strong fragrance again, if it is sealed in a glass jar and buried in the soil for about 3 weeks.
- The introduction of synthetic musk has immensely replaced the use of original musk in perfumes. This is a bit of relief for the musk deer, which is almost at the verge of extinction.
- Now, guided musk extraction is done from the live deer in conservation centers, only for medicinal use.
Image 3: The Musk Deer
(Image attribution details, in References below)
CONCLUSION:
According to a report published in 2012, says that about 4000 musk deer are being mercilessly killed by the poachers. It said that their population would be approximately 5000. But now due to the strong conservation and prohibition, the musk deer might remain a visible truth and not a long extinct species, only to be seen or heard by our next generation in books and over the internet.
In spite of very strong rules and regulations poaching still happens, and it is not to be left over the governments and the conservation bodies only, but the people around the world, to say 'NO' to the use of organic musk based products in any form.
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