英文版《美丽中国》第15集: 麋鹿回家的故事 / 四六文摘

Amazing China EP15:

A Home Coming Story of Milu Deer

On the coastal wetlands by the Yellow Sea in eastern China, you'll notice a strange-looking deer walking around. It has a head shaped like a horse, giant antlers like a deer, hooves like a cow, and a tail of a donkey. These are Milu deer, a species native to China.

But it disappeared from China, for nearly 100 years. The fact that they have now returned to China is the result of a remarkable century-old animal protection collaboration between two countries.

Archeological studies have found that the Milu deer were once common in eastern China, but by the nineteenth century their numbers had dropped drastically.

Most of the Milu deer were raised in the Emperor's hunting grounds outside Beijing. The Europeans who came to China at the time believed the species to be very rare and many were taken back to Europe.

When the Emperor's hunting grounds were destroyed by heavy flooding, the Milu deer were lost, never to be seen in the area again. Luckily, there were the Milu deer that had been shipped to foreign countries. A Duke in Britain had given shelter to 18 of these fortunate Milu deer, and they were well taken care of.

By the mid-1980s, the Chinese government hoped the species could be restored in China once again, a suggestion supported by the Dukes descendants. In 1986, 39 of the Milu deer were flown to China from Britain, to their ancestral homeland in Dafeng County in Jiangsu province.

After two decades, the Milu deer population in China has increased to over 5,000, with nearly 1,350 roaming in the wild.

Today there is no longer any fears for their survival in their homeland.

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