The preservation of the David's deer species, once extinct in
its native China, is an arduous task, an expert said in Nanjing on
Friday.
Two decades after returning to their homeland, the population of
David's deer -- known as Milu deer to Chinese -- has grown
to over 2,000 in China, according to Ding Yuhua, head of the Dafeng
State Milu Nature Reserve in Dafeng city in east China's
Jiangsu Province.
"Milu deer have grown into a population of 3,000
worldwide. They are bred in 208 farms located in more than 20
countries all over the world," Ding said.
"But if an infectious disease broke out or their habitat came
under pressure from human activity, the population would prove to
be too small," Ding said.
Native to China, Milu deer are nicknamed "none of the
four" because of their striking appearance -- a camel's neck, a
donkey's tail, cow-like hooves and a stag's horn.
The species was named Pere David's deer after Pere David, a
Basque missionary, who became the first Westerner to introduce the
strange beast to Europe in the late 19th century.
Milu became extinct in their native China in the 1800s
due to flooding, hunting and war. In 1985, 22 specimens were
brought back to China from the world's last existing herd at the
Duke of Bedford's estate in Bedfordshire, England.
The Dafeng State Milu Nature Reserve has since seen its
population of 39 deer grow to 1007 animals today including 62
living in the wild.
Besides the nature reserve in Jiangsu, Milu deer are also
raised in other parts of China, including Beijing, Tian'ezhou
Milu National Nature Reserve in Hubei, and Henan's Yuanyang
County.
In 1998 China began reintroducing the endangered species to the
wild.
(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2006)
