Not Extinct After All, Fanged Kashmir Musk Deer Spotted In Afghanistan

April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

Until sixty years ago, there were seven species of musk deer roaming the continent of Asia. That’s when the last sighting of the Kashmir musk deer occurred in Afghanistan, leaving behind the Alpine, the Siberian, the Dwarf, the Black, the Anhui and the White-bellied species. The Kashmir musk deer, a strange breed with vampire-like fangs, was last spotted by a Danish survey team in 1948. That is, until a new study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) was released in a recent edition of the journal Oryx.

The endangered, and presumed extinct, deer has been spotted at five different times by a research team in the forested slopes of the northeastern province of Nuristan. The team reported seeing a solitary male in the same area on three occasions, one female with a fawn, and one solitary female. The last sighting might have been the same female without her young. Because the deer are difficult to spot, and the sightings all occurred in challenging locations — steep rocky outcrops, alpine meadows and scattered, dense high juniper and rhododendron bushes — the research team was unable to get a photograph of the deer.

Like its cousin, the Siberian musk deer, however, the Kashmir musk deer has long fangs used during mating season to joust for mates. They are a small species of deer, standing just over two feet tall at the shoulder, reports Richard Farrell for Discovery News.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the Kashmir musk deer as Endangered because of the loss of habitat and poaching. The animal’s scent glands are prized by poachers for traditional medicines and perfumes, selling for over $20,000 per pound on the black market, Rachel Feltman of the Washington Post reports.

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