Perfume `a threat' to deer

ALL PERFUMES should be labelled with their contents to stop the widespread slaughter of musk deer for their scent pods, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says in a report it will release today.

It says the number of musk deer has fallen by 50 per cent in some areas during the pastdecade and they could be threatened with extinction.

The WWF is calling on the EU and the perfume industry to stop imports of wild musk from Russia until more research is carried out on their decline. It wants all perfume products to be clearly labelled to make it clear if they use "natural" musk.

The report blames over exploitation and poaching for the "massive" decline in numbers. The trade is fuelled by a demand for the deer's musk pods which can fetch pounds 28,000 per kilogram - making it one of the costliest products in the world.

Stuart Chapman, international conservation officer forWWF-UK, said: "Consumers of perfumes have no way of knowing what they are buying."