Forest Musk-deer

The forest musk deer is a small, antlerless mountain ungulate found chiefly in central and southern China, with its range extending into northern Vietnam. Males possess elongated upper canine teeth and an abdominal musk gland, while both sexes have powerful hindquarters and a rounded, deer-like body. It is also known as the Chinese forest or dwarf musk deer. The species occupies coniferous, broadleaf and mixed forests, shrub-covered mountain terrain and, in Vietnam, karst landscapes. (Liu and Sheng 2023; Mammal Diversity Database)

Forest musk deer are shy, solitary and most active around dusk and dawn. They feed on more than one hundred plant species, shifting among tender shoots in spring, buds and flowers in summer, seeds in autumn, and semi-evergreen leaves and twigs in winter; grasses, mosses and lichens are also eaten. Breeding is seasonal, with courtship beginning in autumn. Reported gestation lasts 178–198 days, and females produce one to three young, with first pregnancies usually yielding a single fawn. (Liu and Sheng 2023)