Cameras discover secrets of Mangshan

Infrared monitors capture footage of elusive musk deer in Hunan reserve

On a morning in May 2020, Chen Desheng, an engineer at the Mangshan National Nature Reserve's science and public education department, was fixated on the computer screen in his office, watching a video clip of a creature with a round, black backside scratching itself against a tree stump without a care in the world.

As the animal turned its head, Chen's eyes widened in surprise.

The creature had a body resembling a small deer, with olive-brown fur, large fluffy ears, a short stubby tail and two tiny tusks protruding from the sides of its mouth.