The Bukhara Deer Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was developed under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) in collaboration with the Central Asia Programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It became effective on 16 May 2002 and will remain open for signature indefinitely.

The species risks extinction from a number of human threats. Artificial regulation of the water regime, habitat destruction and illegal hunting are the main reasons for the deer’s alarming decline in numbers. Now only a few hundred animals remain, scattered in a few small populations in limited areas. Historically the species' area of distribution included the river valleys of Amudaria and Syrdaria and their river catchments.

The MoU area covers four Range States in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. These countries together with as three cooperating international organisations (WWF, the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) and CMS), have signed the MoU.