Musk deer are small, shy, fanged deer targeted by poachers across Asia for the musk gland found in males. a substance that, gram from gram, is more valuable than gold. Gram for gram, it's more valuable than gold.
A new study we authored with partners finds that logging roads in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of the Russian Far East are inadvertently leading to increased poaching of these deer by providing poachers easy access to the area.
“We’re partnering with the primary timber company in the region, TerneyLes, to identify which logging roads most threaten musk deer, Amur tigers, Blakiston’s fish owls, and other important wildlife,” said Dr. Jonathan Slaght of WCS and the study’s lead author. “We’re working with them to block human access to these areas after selective logging is completed, thus meeting the needs of both the local economy and local wildlife.”
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