Père David's Deer

Pere David's deer, also known as the milu, is a species of deer native to the subtropical river valleys of China, grazing mainly on grass and aquatic plants. Adults reach a head-and-body length of up to 1.9-2.2 metres and weigh 135 to 200 kilograms. The branched antlers are unusual, with long tines pointing backward and the main beam extending almost straight up, and there may be two pairs per year. Hunted almost to extinction in China by the late 19th century, the deer survived in captive herds in Europe, and all alive today descend from one herd built up in England. Several dozen were later donated to China to restore the species to the wild.

About the Père David's deer

Père David's deer is a large, semi-aquatic deer from the river valleys and marshes of China, known there as the milu. It is the only living member of the genus Elaphurus and is closely related to Eld's deer. It was hunted out of the wild in China and survived only because a few were kept in captivity.

It is a big deer, reaching 1.9–2.2 m (6.2–7.2 ft) from head to rump and about 1.2 m (3.9 ft) at the shoulder, and weighing 135–200 kg (300–440 lb). Males average about 214 kg (472 lb) and females about 159 kg (351 lb). The head is long and slender, with large eyes, very large scent glands in front of the eyes, a bare nose pad and small pointed ears.

The tail is long for a deer, about 50 cm (20 in), and ends in a dark tuft. The coat is reddish tan in summer and fades to dull gray in winter, when it grows woollier. Long wavy guard hairs cover the body all year. There is a mane on the neck and throat and a black stripe along the spine at the shoulders. Fawns are spotted, like most young deer.

The antlers are unlike those of any other deer. The main beam rises almost straight up, while the long tines point backward. Stags may grow two sets a year: a larger summer set, dropped in November after the rut, and sometimes a second set that is full-grown by January and falls off a few weeks later.

The hooves are large and splay wide, and they make a clicking sound as the animal walks, much like a reindeer. The scientific name Elaphurus comes from Greek words for "stag" and "tail."

Four not alike

In China the deer is sometimes called sibuxiang, "four not alike," because it seems to combine parts of other animals without being any of them. One version says it has the hooves of a cow, the neck of a camel, the antlers of a deer and the tail of a donkey. In the classic novel Investiture of the Gods, it is the animal ridden by the sage Jiang Ziya, and later emperors believed eating its meat would bring everlasting life.

Behavior and diet

Père David's deer is semi-aquatic and unusually fond of water for a deer. It swims well and will stand for long periods in water up to its shoulders. It is mainly a grazer, feeding on grass, and adds aquatic plants to its diet in summer.

These are social, herding animals. Females stay in groups year-round. Males leave the herd about two months before the breeding season, then return to gather a harem in June and July. During the rut, stags spray urine, mark with their face glands, wallow and adorn their antlers. They fight with antlers and teeth and will even rear up and box with their front legs. A stag holding a harem stops eating, loses weight quickly and is eventually replaced by a fresher male, after which he leaves to feed and recover.

Reproduction

The gestation period is about 280 days, roughly nine months, which is longer than in any other deer except the roe deer. Usually a single calf is born, rarely twins, and most births come in April or May. Calves weigh about 11–13 kg (25–29 lb) and develop quickly. Females mature at about two years and three months, and males about a year later. Average lifespan is around 18 years, and the oldest recorded reached 23 years and 3 months.

Predators and instincts

Tigers and leopards are thought to have been its main natural predators. After centuries in captivity, the deer still reacts cautiously to tiger roars and images of big cats, while ignoring the barking of dogs, which suggests it has kept an instinctive memory of its old enemy.

Range and habitat

The milu is found only in China. In Neolithic times it ranged across much of the country, with antlers found at sites from the Liao River in the north to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and across the Yellow and Yangtze river basins. Over time it became restricted to the swamps and wetlands of the south and east, living in lowlands, reed marshes and grassy river valleys.

Hunting and the draining of wetlands for farming pushed it out. The last known wild herd, on Hainan Island, was still around in 1868. The final captive herd in China lived in an imperial hunting garden near Beijing until 1895, when a flood broke down the walls and starving villagers killed and ate the deer. By 1900 the species was gone from China.

Today reintroduced herds live at several sites in China, including the grounds of the old imperial hunting garden near Beijing, Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve near the Yellow Sea coast, Tian'ezhou (Shishou) Milu National Nature Reserve and the Yuanyang Yellow River Nature Reserve.

Conservation status

Père David's deer is listed as Extinct in the Wild on the IUCN Red List. It was classed as Critically Endangered in 1996, moved to Extinct in the Wild in 2008, and when reassessed in 2016 it was kept in that category until the reintroduced population proves it can last over the long term.

Recovery has been striking. In 2020 the free-ranging population in China was estimated at 2,825 animals, with another 7,380 in nature reserves, and official figures put the total in China above 8,000. The milu has first-class state protection in China. Despite descending from so few founders, the deer do not appear to suffer obvious problems from the genetic bottleneck.

The herd that saved the species

The species survived thanks to a handful of animals taken to Europe in the 19th century. In the early 1900s, Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford, gathered the few remaining deer and formed a breeding herd at his Woburn Abbey estate in England. The herd started with 18 animals, only 11 of which bred. With the help of his son, it survived both World Wars. All Père David's deer alive today descend from that herd.

Reintroduction to China began in 1985 with 20 deer from the Woburn herd, followed by 18 more in 1987 and a group of 36 from the UK in 1986 that went to Dafeng. Numbers grew quickly; the Dafeng herd increased about 17 percent a year to roughly 950 by 2006. In 1998 a flood let some deer escape from the Tian'ezhou reserve, and they have lived and bred in the wild since, numbering about 700 by 2015.

Challenges remain for fully wild herds. Generations of captive breeding may have weakened anti-predator and parasite-defense behaviors such as grooming, which could matter if deer are released where ticks or predators are common.