Endangered deer moved to north China reserve

SHIJIAZHUANG -- Ten Pere David's deer from a park in Beijing have been sent to a national nature reserve in North China's Hebei province to enrich the gene pool of the population there, sources with the reserve said Monday.

The group of Pere David's deer were bred in Beijing Nanhaizi Pere David's Deer Park and arrived at Luanhe Upper River National Nature Reserve, the northernmost habitat for the deer in China, on Sunday.

The reserve had prepared a 6-hectare temporary enclosure for the deer while they adapt to local conditions. They were released to the zone around 11 a.m. on Sunday morning. When they are accustomed to the local environment, they will be released to the reserve.

The ten deer join five already living in the reserve. If the attempt to integrate the two populations is successful, more deer will be brought to the reserve, said Yan Xun, an official with the State Forestry Administration.

The Luanhe Upper River National Nature Reserve had 22 Pere David's deer in 2014, but 15 of them died in a Clostridium welchii epidemic in 2015. The disease is a kind of food poisoning common to herbivores causing intestinal bleeding, according to Wang Guizhong, a local forestry official.

Pere David's deer were named after a Basque missionary to China who introduced them to Europe in the late 19th century.

The species which is under state protection in China had died out there by 1900 due to natural disasters and hunting. In 1985, 22 specimens were brought to China from the world's only remaining herd in the United Kingdom. China is now home to more than 5,000 Pere David's deer, with over 800 living in the wild.

The species bears the odd nickname of "sibuxiang," or "none of the four are alike" for its unique appearance -- a horse's face, a donkey's tail, cow-like hooves and a stag's antlers.