Fanged Deer First Spotted in Afghanistan After 60 years It is a very exciting fact that the Kashmir musk deer still exists. However, this is not the only exciting part of the news. This spotting has opened up new horizons for the researchers and scientists. The Wildlife Conservation Society has sent a survey form to the scientists in the Northeastern region of Afghanistan to find out more about this Kashmir musk deer that was last seen in 1948. The deer were seen on several occasions. A male was seen on three different occasions, a female was seen once, while another female was also spotted with a child. The species is so famously known for its tusks. The male musk deer grows these elephant like tusks (obviously much smaller, yet very sharply pointed) in the mating season. The teeth grow out their mouth and stick out like fangs. Though they use them for the same purpose as the other deer use their antlers; i.e. for fighting other male deer in the mating season. The poachers that come in hunting for these deer is however, not for their tusks, but it is because of their musk gland. It is a gland located right behind their tusks that is sold in the black market for making perfumes. The species is already endangered because of the obvious devastation of the land and also because of the continued poaching. The Smithsonian Magazine records that the seven types of the musk deer already roam the forests and the mountains in Asia. All of them were hunted for their meat and the musk glands contain a particular smelly secretion that is valued for its use in perfumes and medicine. Musk is some of the most valuable products that can be extracted from the animal kingdom. Its price for a gram is worth almost three times that of a gram of gold. In this case, the destroying of the habitat had pushed these deer in the steep mountainsides that are very difficult to approach and therefore it provides these creatures a little refuge from poaching. These creatures are mostly found in the Nuristan province in the country. However, three decades of war have destroyed this place and the continuous political instability and violence have made the black market uncontrollable. The species has also been rapidly losing suitable habitat. According to a geological survey, the area has lost around fifty percent of the mountainous forests after 1970s.
Related Article: http://www.researchomatic.com/New-Research/Deer-Hunting-65540.html