Milu deer

Milu deer

　　Milu deer

　　Milu deer, a first-class nationally protected animal

　　Commonly called the “four-not-like,” meaning its horns are like but not those of a deer, its head like but not that of a horse, its body like but not that of a donkey, and its hooves like but not those of an ox. Originally a uniquely Chinese species, its wild population went extinct around 150 years ago. The captive population, which had been raised in captivity for centuries at the royal hunting park in Nanyuan, Beijing, also became extinct due to the chaos of war in 1900, with the last milu deer in China dying at Beijing’s Wan Sheng Yuan (Beijing Zoo) in 1920. Between 1893 and 1895, the 11th Duke of Bedford in England gathered 18 milu deer scattered across Europe and centralized their care at Woburn Abbey. This group of milu deer became the ancestors of the current population.

　　In 1986, China reintroduced 39 milu deer from seven zoos in the UK. By 1994, their numbers had increased to 191, ranking fifth in the world in terms of herd size. The Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve has the largest milu deer enclosure in the world.