We analyzed 254 deaths caused by diseases in captive Alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) from 1998 to 2005 at the Xinglongshan Musk Deer Farm,Gansu. Among the eight categories of diseases,respiratory system diseases had the highest incidence rate of 26.8%, followed by motor system diseases (16.5% ), digestive and nutritive diseases (14.6% ), unidentified diseases (14. 2%), cardiovascular system diseases (13% ), urinary system diseases (9.8% ), nervous system diseases (3.5% ),and reproductive system diseases (1.6% ). The percentages of dead males were higher than those of the females for deaths caused by digestive system and nutritive diseases (♂62.2%), cardiovascular system diseases (60.6% ), nervous system diseases (66.7% ),unidentified diseases (61.1% ), and particularly the urinary system diseases (up to 84% ), and the male to female ratio of deaths caused by all the diseases was (♂∶ ♀)1∶ 0.76, showing a male-skewed mortality. The mortality of newborn and fawns was relatively high, and the percentage of deaths in one and two- year-old deer was 51.6% of the total, but those decreased with deer age. The relationship between the economic benefit in the farming of musk deer and the prevention of diseases were discussed Finally,we offered a strategy to control the incidence of diseases by regarding the musk deer as a solitary species.