Mammals of the WorldKashmir Musk-deer
Moschus cupreus
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Moschidae
- Genus
- Moschus
- IUCN status
- EN
- Distribution
- Afghanistan|Pakistan|India
- Realm
- Palearctic
About this species
- Size
- About 60cm tall
- Habitat
- Alpine scrub on rock outcrops and upper fringes of coniferous forest at about 3,000–3,500m, on steep slopes
- Range
- Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
The Kashmir musk deer was originally described as a subspecies of the alpine musk deer but is now a separate species. It stands about 60 cm tall, and only males have tusks, which they use to compete for females in the mating season. In summer it lives in remote alpine scrub on scattered rock outcrops and in the upper fringes of closed coniferous forest at about 3,000–3,500 m, invariably on steep slopes (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is a habitat specialist and so more vulnerable to habitat loss at high altitude. Besides poaching, livestock grazing, urban expansion and wood collection damage its montane habitat. Most of the cached account concerns Afghanistan, where three animals were detected in Nuristan Province in 2009, and it gives no information specific to India (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)