THE demand for traditional Chinese medicine is threatening the existence of species such as the rhino or Chinese alligator.

But now Scotland is now exporting its own native ingredient to the Far East without fear of conservation repercussions.

A shipment of Scottish Red Deer antlers has begun a 35-day journey from Dumfries and Galloway to the China.

The consignment, organised by Kirkcudbrightshire deer farmer Rupert Shaw, left Gledpark Farm, near Borgue last Friday for Grangemouth before travelling by sea to Hong Kong.

He is not sure what the health benefits are deemed to be in China, but says there is a big potential market for the product as an alternative medicine.

“I had offered to cut the antlers up because they don’t exactly stack very well, but they were insistent that they see it as a whole," said Mr Shaw.

"Then they grind them up and put it into a number of medicines.

“But the good news from our perspective is that this is something we potentially have abundance of, and there are not ethical issues. Red deer naturally cast their antlers. It is not like tiger penis or rhino horn. No intervention is required.”

Antlers, exclusively found on stags, are cast annually and can be collected.

Producers of Chinese medicine have valued Scottish Red Deer Antler at up to £16 per kg in Scotland, depending on antler condition, colour, cleanliness and age.

Mr Shaw said the Chinese valued the traditional image of Scotland as a country producing high-value quality goods.

“There are competitors and the Chinese have already been buying from Latvia, Russian and Germany," he said.

"So it is good we have got a foot in the door."

Having identified a potential buyer for the antlers through his website, Mr Shaw embarked on a year-long process to secure the necessary export licence for the load and complete the deal.

Most of the antlers in the shipment came from Gledpark’s herd of farmed Red Deer with several other Scottish venison producers contributing antlers to fill the container.

In an important development for the region, future shipments to Hong Kong are already being planned.

According to the Netherlands based Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Deer antler base has been recorded in the Chinese medical classics 2000 years ago and “is believed to nourish the Yin, tonify the kidney, invigorate the spleen, strengthen bones and muscles, and promote blood flow".

In China, deer antler base has been extensively used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a variety of diseases including mammary hyperplasia, mastitis, uterine fibroids, malignant sores and children's mumps.

Mr Shaw, who is also NFU Scotland’s Regional Chairman in Dumfries and Galloway, said: “Although it is early days, the potential demand for Scottish deer antlers in Chinese medicinal products could represent a very valuable market for those who are already producing venison, or are planning to keep deer in the future.

"At current prices of up to £16 per kg of antler, and many adult stags casting a set of antlers that could weigh more than 15 kgs, there is a valuable return to be gained if we can secure a foothold in this market.”

But antler horn has some way to go to catch Scotch whisky industry which last year sold in excess of £41m to China or Scottish farmed salmon £44m.