It is considered to be endangered, possibly down to as few as 5–10,000 individuals spread over a wide area.

Camera-trap photographs have revealed the presence of hairy-fronted muntjacs where they were believed not to have existed for decades, for example in the Wuyanling National Nature Reserve.

It was also considered highly endangered; up to 1975, it was only known from a few museum specimens, at least to western scientists.

The X and Y chromosomes of the hairy-fronted muntjac are very different from other therians, and represent an early stage in the evolution of a new sex-determination system.

The neo-Y, which does not recombine, shows the accelerated mutation rate that is observed on the ordinary Y of other mammals.