Have you gotten your costumes ready for Halloween? 

If you are going to dress up as a vampire, you can consider donning hooves instead of a black cape. After all, there are real "vampires" in China, and they are friendly, timid deer. 

There are two species of "vampire deer": The water deer and the musk deer. Both are named as such because of their vampire-like fangs. The two do not have antlers, which makes them different from a true deer. 

There are seven species of musk deer, living mainly in the mountains of southern Asia, especially the Himalayas. The most special characteristic of the musk deer is that the adult males have musk glands. The musk deer uses this secretion to attract mates, and humans too have been attracted so much to it that they put it in perfumes. The musk gland are sold at an astronomical price on black markets. Hence, the musk deer has been hunted, leading to a fall in population. According to IUCN red list, six of seven musk deer species are endangered, and the other is evaluated as vulnerable. 

The water deer looks almost identical with the musk deer, only without the musk gland. Instead, the male water deer has a scent gland on the groin, which is also used to attract mates. The vampire-like fangs are weapons in mating fights too. Their fangs can also be controlled by facial muscles. The water deer pulls back its fangs when eating, and thrusts them out in battle with rivals. 

The two subspecies, Chinese water deer and Korean water deer, are distributed in their respective countries. China has taken multiple measures to reintroduce and protect the vulnerable species, whose population has reached a few thousands in China. 

(Cover image via VCG)

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