The Pére David’s deer was extirpated
in the wild around the end of the Han Dinasty (AD220).
A herd was maintained in the Imperial Hunting Park
south of Beijing, where they were discovered by French
priest Père Armand David in 1865.
In Europe, however, a small number of Père
David’s deer were kept by different zoos in
1900. Zoo directors decided to save the species and
sent all potential breeders -18 in total- to the estate
of the Duke of Bedford in England. In 1956 the first
deer were sent to Beijing Zoo and in 1986 a group
of 39 individuals was reintroduced to the Dafeng Reserve
in China. By the end of 2005, the total number of
Père David’s deer in China exceeded 1.300
animals.
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