Pham Thi Hoa
The forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii) occurs in central and southern China and Vietnam (Wang & Harris, 2015). In Vietnam, the species has been historically reported in mountainous karst habitat in northern part (Dang & Nguyen 1999; Tran et al., 2021). The forest musk deer is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2021) due to severe population declines. Poaching and habitat loss are the main threats to the species. The latest information on the species was from the 1990s, and even then consisted of assessments derived from expert opinion (Dang & Nguyen, 1999). After several decades without any information on the species’ status in Vietnam, our team detected an adult forest musk deer in Huu Lien NR by camera traps at the beginning of 2021 (Tran et al., 2021). The results prove inconclusively that forest musk deer still survives in Huu Lien NR, and have reinvigorated efforts to protect its populations in Vietnam.
Forest musk deer captured by camera trap in northern Vietnam. © Dai Phan and Dung Tran (Vietnam National University of Forestry).
Follow-up camera-trapping surveys in Huu Lien from 2021-2023 have shown that there is a small population of forest musk deer in the protected area. However, as with all protected areas in Vietnam, the species is threatened by hunting from wire snares. Further evidence of musk deer in other parts of northern Vietnam has also surfaced. On 5th December 2023 and 12th January 2024, for example, photographs of musk deer caught by local hunters posted on social networks for trading in Cao Bang and Lang Son provinces, respectively. From this information, we can conclude that (a) there are likely other populations of musk deer in the karst mountains of northern Vietnam, and (b) the species is threatened by hunting. In the project, we seek to build an evidence-based conservation plan to protect remaining populations of this highly threatened species in karst mountains of northern Vietnam.