Relationships Between Body Condition and Musk Secretion of the Captive Forest Musk Deer Population in Eastern Fujian,China
[Objectives]Owing to factors such as habitat loss,Musk Deer is critically endangered and has been listed as a first-class national protected animal in China.Musk Deer farming and artificial musk extraction are essential for the conservation of Musk Deer and the sustainable use of musk resources.The captive population of Forest Musk Deer Moschus berezovskii at Zherong Farm in Fujian represents one of the easternmost musk deer populations in China.However,there is a lack of research on the farming effects and musk production within this population.[Methods]The study was conducted at the Zherong Farm in Fujian,where the body conditions of 67 male Forest Musk Deer were assessed from September 1 to October 28,2023(Table 1).Each Musk Deer was sampled and subjected to muscone testing.SPSS 27.0 and R 4.4.1 were used to perform statistical analyses including correlation analysis,linear regression analysis,cluster analysis and generalized linear mixed models(GLMM)to determine the relationships between body condition,musk secretion and muscone content.[Results]The results indicated that the musk secretion of male Musk Deer at Zherong Farm in Fujian was significantly correlated with the length(r=0.333,P＜0.05)and basal diameter(r=0.421,P＜0.01)of their upper canine teeth(Table 5),which can be well fitted by the equation Y=2.212+0.595 X1+1.612 X2.Additionally,the muscone content in the musk was significantly correlated with the length of the upper canine teeth(r=-0.296,P＜0.05),but not significantly correlated with the basal diameter(r=-0.238,P＞0.05)(Table 5).Furthermore,a highly significant correlation was observed between the body silhouette of the male and its musk secretion(r=0.411,P＜0.01)(Table 6).[Conclusion]Based on the findings of this study,it is suggested that in Musk Deer farming and musk production of Musk Deer,musk secretion and muscone content can be predicted based on the characteristics of their upper canine teeth,specifically length and basal diameter,as well as their body silhouette.
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