Musk deer cub seen in Shaanxi Province nature reserve

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‍A forest musk deer cub was recently captured by an infrared camera installed in a nature reserve in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, indicating that the local ecological environment has significantly improved.

The staff at the Ningshan Nature Reserve captured a picture of a deer cub for the first time after releasing 13 domestically raised forest musk deer to the wild more than a year ago.

One of the 13 forest musk deer released in 2017 /VCG Photo

The video shows the grown-up deer is a female and the cub following closely behind it is about one month old. The mother rapidly jumped away after hearing the snap sound of the infrared camera and the cub followed its mom after taking a curious glance at the camera lens.

The forest musk deer, also known as dwarf musk deer, is native to China, and it is listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are one of the smallest musks species, with only around 70 centimeters in length and about 50 centimeters in height.

A forest musk deer /VCG Photo

A stable habitat and abundant vegetation are the preconditions for the survival of animals. After years of protection and ecological restoration, more and more animals such as ocelots, black bears and takins are returning to their natural habitats.

The three factors of judging whether the release of an animal to the wild is successful are survival, stable habitat, and reproduction. The appearance of a musk deer cub indicates that the release is a successful one.

(Cover image of the video via VCG Photo.)