Anhui musk deer

The mammal

The adults of the species are considered small, with a height of around 71 cm (28 in) at the head, or a shoulder height of 61 cm (24 in). The overall length is around 89 cm (35 in) from head to tail.

Range and habitat

Anhui musk deer inhabit high-elevations that consist of coniferous, broad-leaved, or mixed forests. Anhui musk deer are believed to require the dense vegetation of intact forests or shrublands, similar to other musk deer. The species is only known to be found within and around the Mount Dabie area, within the western part of Anhui Province China.

There are currently no measures in place to prevent hunting or harvesting of the Anhui musk deer, nor provide any protected areas to preserve its habitat.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

The Anhui musk deer is currently listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), on their Red List, due to a suspected 50% population decrease over the past three generations (20–21 years), approximately. The main reason for this decline is primarily the unregulated, unsustainable hunting of the musk deer for its aromatic musk glands (used in cosmetics). While it is possible to extract musk glands, surgically, from live deer, this is more costly and time-consuming than simply shooting a musk deer and removing its scent glands. Additionally, considering the Anhui musk deer's namesake province, Anhui, is currently ranked as China's ninth-largest province by human population—with over 61 million residents—, human encroachment and infringement on wild habitat is a major concern.

Since 2002, the Anhui musk deer has been listed on the First Category of State Key Protected Wildlife List in China, and is listed as critically endangered on the Chinese Red List. Current population numbers are not currently known, with the last estimation being 700-800 individuals in 1985.

CITES lists this taxon on Appendix II. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.

Anhui musk deer is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Anhui musk deer, Wikidata item Q545537. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.