Musk Deer Breeding Center – Chaukori

Why we trekked to Musk Deer Breeding Center, Chaukori

In the late afternoon, we decided to visit the Musk Deer breeding center from the Ojaswi resort, Chaukori.

Someone has just returned from there and was highly disappointed. He could not even get a glimpse of the deer.

For us (me and my wife), the musk deer farm was only a masquerade; the real idea was to trek. The center simply provided a destination to keep everyone else motivated.

Chaukori to Musk Deer Breeding Center trail

The Breeding center is at 3 Km steep walk from Chaukori. The trek passes through a heavily wooded area.

Our drivers informed that on the way we could also find some musk that the deer passes with its excreta; however it was more of a misconception.

As always we started in group, but, slowly the gap between the fastest (the kids) and the slowest (my sister-in-law) started to widen. It is difficult to ask kids to trek at slower pace, so we matched their pace and left my brother-in-law to motivate and bring over my sister-in-law.

Were we heading in the right direction?

We did not meet anyone on the trail so even though there were not many diversions, we were still not sure that we were going on the right trek.

After a long time, a local person crossed us in hurry. We confirmed the path. He simply nodded, out-paced us and was soon out of the sight. Apparently, we were not far from the destination and soon reached at the center. The three Km distance is not much; still the steep trek completely exhausted us.

There we again met the un-concerned local and realized that he was the caretaker of the center. He still had that indifferent looks as if he was wondering what brings tourist to the centre.

Musk Deer

We spotted a male and a female musk deer. They were in separate cages and far from the place the tourists could look at them. Their cages were further separate by another iron mesh. The deer were well-guarded and looking for musk on the trek was nothing but… shit.

The Characteristics of Musk Deer

Indian musk deer tend to be very secretive and are mostly active between dusk and dawn. At night they graze in open areas while at day time they remain in dense cover. Perhaps this is the reason why tourist we met at the resort could not see them, even though they were in the cages.

The Physical Appearance of the Musk Deer

Musk deer do not have antlers and resembles a medium height dog in size. Its hind limbs are muscular and long while the forelimbs are short, thin and weak. The feet are adapted for climbing in rough terrain.

Musk deer does not make seasonal migration, remaining in the same area, despite harsh weather. This shy animal depends on its sense of hearing to be responsive towards sources of danger. It makes drastic changes in direction during its flight and often every few jumps it will stop and listen.

Why Male-Female were kept in separate cages at Musk Deer Breeding Center

When I questioned that why the pair is been kept in different cages, the caretaker, drew my attention towards the protruding, large and visible canines of the male deer.

He stated that otherwise the male deer might attack the female and cut through its flesh with its sharp teeth. They are brought together only during the mating season.

Musk Deer going the family-way

The number of offspring of this animal is small and it seldom reaches two. This animal is found either living alone or in a group of not more than three members (mother and her young fawns).

Young ones stay with their mother for up to two years. Female musk deer give birth to a single fawn after a gestation period of five to six months. The new born are very small and remain motionless for the first month of their lives, a feature that help them remain hidden from their predators like eagles and foxes.

What about the Musk?

I sniffed hard still I could not smell anything special in the air. So we inquired the caretaker about the musk.

He explained that a male musk deer has a musk pouch in its abdomen. The scent from the pouch is only released during mating season to attract a mate.

Operation is the only way to extract musk without killing the animal. When first extracted, musk is red and has an unpleasant odour. It becomes black when dries and starts to give a pleasant odour.

There was nothing much to do at the top. The caretaker did not allow us to venture on the other side citing the fear of wild animals. So after spending some time we trekked down. Coming down, as expected, was quick.

Read more about the Chaukori Here

Series Navigation

<< Chaukori – The health prone nature zonePatal Bhuvaneshwar cave – Treasure trove of Indian Mythology >>