1 gram of musk can be sold for as little as 400 yuan or as much as 1,000 yuan. Why is it so expensive? Why doesn’t anyone raise the forest musk deer that produces musk?

Musk not only appears frequently in various palace battle dramas, but also ranks firmly in the top echelon of the spice industry, with the title of the most famous fragrance and the most famous medicine. Because of its high price, it is even considered as soft gold. reputation, where does this musk come from?

Musk is actually the black-brown dirt in the belly button of a forest musk deer. Up to 50 grams of musk can be extracted from a forest musk deer every year. One gram of musk can be sold for at least 400 yuan, which is higher than the price of gold. .

The forest musk deer itself looks very cute, with a petite body, two pointed fangs sticking out of its lips, and two big and smart eyes, full of contrast and cuteness. But "every man is not guilty, but he who possesses a jade is guilty." The high price of musk purchased internationally has tempted many poachers to murder it. The number of forest musk deer has plummeted from 2.5 million in the last century to 100,000. The population is so small that it has been directly upgraded to a national first-level protected animal. However, this still cannot stop the great ambition and desire of poachers.

In 2016, villagers discovered a large number of forest musk deer carcasses in the mountains of Dege, Garze, Sichuan. Many forest musk deer had their bellies hollowed out. They were obviously brutally killed by poachers. A total of more than 20 forest musk deer carcasses were found, as well as more than 500 wire snares used for hunting. The cruelty of the hunting scene is really outrageous. In 2017, two men in Ningxia illegally hunted 12 forest musk deer and were sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Forest musk deer can take scent from living bodies, and only males produce musk in their bodies. However, poachers kill both males and females indiscriminately, putting the number of forest musk deer in jeopardy and causing the price of musk to rise steadily. To talk about something that is not “cold”, in fact, it is possible to legally breed forest musk deer after applying for approval.

Do you know how musk is collected? The process of collecting musk is very complicated and according to local villagers, it is more laborious than killing a pig. It took three or four people to hold down Lin Musk together. One person held a small spoon and slowly turned it to continuously dig out the black-brown substance from Musk's navel. After deducting costs, feed and labor expenses, the net profit of each forest musk deer can reach nearly 10,000 yuan.

It can be used as both a spice and a traditional Chinese medicine. It can be said that the sale of musk is a sunrise industry with a bright future and huge room for development. Therefore, some farmers are unwilling to justRelying solely on musk for income, they instead choose to sell the farmed camphors. Each year, a female forest musk deer can give birth to two cubs. If sold as a breeding pair, the price can reach more than 40,000 yuan, and a single forest musk deer can be sold for as high as 20,000 yuan.

Since musk and camphor are so expensive, why do so few people breed them?

It is not an easy task to "serve" a national first-level protected animal. It requires following tedious procedures and being meticulous in all aspects. If there were a social ranking in the animal world, the forest musk deer could not compete for the top spot, but it could still be the third best. Maybe they also know the reason why it is a crime to have a jade, so they usually stay away from people.

When the forest musk deer is not in estrus, they are all "loners" and love to live alone. There is usually only one individual in the same area. Therefore, to establish an artificial breeding farm for forest musk deer, you must first ensure the population of the area. Rare, especially away from the crowd. If frightened, forest musk deer will launch a wave of "little musk deer collisions" and accidentally kill themselves.

The forest musk deer is a lively and active animal that likes to jump and run. But after two years of age, when its growth glands and scent sacs begin to secrete musk, it becomes very quiet and almost motionless. Therefore, in order to protect its fragrance, each forest musk deer needs to live in a single room of eight square meters and be manually isolated.

The natural conditions of the breeding farm must also be optimized. In order to comply with the native habits of forest musk deer, the breeding farm must be built on a hillside. The lusher the forest and grass above, the better. The altitude is preferably above one thousand meters. , if there is natural mountain spring water, it will be even better. Just based on these conditions, I don’t know how many farmers have been persuaded to quit.

When forest musk deer secretes musk, only by maintaining a healthy body can they produce more fragrance. Therefore, farmers need to pay special attention to the physical condition of forest musk deer and inject it with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial drugs, kaiselu, etc. to promote metabolism. After completing these steps, you also need to perform "horse killing chicken" massage regularly to help forest musk deer promote gastrointestinal motility.

In addition to living well, forest musk deer are also very picky. Even though they are herbivores, they can eat as many as a hundred kinds of plants, which makes them easy-going. In fact, forest musk deer eat seasonal plants in different seasons. They eat green bark vines in summer and autumn, prefer shrubs or small trees in winter, and prefer lettuce and lettuce in spring. Every time you feed forest musk deer, there must be at least 5 types of forage. If you fool it with straw, they will not eat it.Much more picky than those store-exploring bloggers.

But thinking about it from another angle, maybe the production of musk also has the effect of these plant essences. Moreover, in order to meet the nutritional needs of forest musk deer at different stages of growth and development, different types of forage need to be provided and reasonably prepared. This is not raising forest musk deer, it is simply serving the ancestors. This is also the reason why many people cannot raise forest musk deer well.

Musk sells for sky-high prices, but forest musk deer will have to lose money if they are not well raised. How difficult is it for forest musk deer farmers?

The purchase price of musk is not as high as we imagined. Musk is not allowed to be exported in our country. Although the price of musk is high internationally, farmers can only envy it in vain. Looking around, except for the Sichuan Musk Breeding Research Institute, which is the only scientific research institution engaged in artificial musk breeding, the others are pharmaceutical companies that use musk. The musk they produce themselves is not enough or just enough. Therefore, although it seems that the family has a big business, in essence it is just self-sufficient.

The state strictly prohibits private transactions by unqualified farmers. To put it simply, the forest musk deer has been protected through legislation, but it has not been open to the market. To a certain extent, artificial breeding has saved wild populations, and the general trend of replacing hunting with technology can also indirectly protect biological populations. This has led to a delicate dynamic balance between forest musk deer breeding and live musk deer harvesting.