i iHistory Extinction Homeland Recovery Conservation Status

The Status of Wild Extinct Species Elaphurus davidianus

A successful ex situ conservation project in China for three

decades

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Citation Zhi-Bin Cheng, Maja Boyd, Yan-Ju Liu*, Jia-De Bai Beijing Milu Ecological Research Centre, Beijing, 100076, P.R.China,

*Corresponding Author Yan-ju Liu. Email: liuyanju@hotmail.com

© FLEDGE, 2015

Published byForum for Law, Environment, Development and Governance (FLEDGE)Chennai, India

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The Status of Wild Extinct Species Elaphurus davidianus

A successful ex situ conservation project in China

for three decades

Zhi-Bin Cheng, Maja Boyd, Yan-Ju Liu*, Jia-De Bai

(Beijing Milu Ecological Research Centre, Beijing, 100076, P.R.China, *Corresponding author.

Email: liuyanju@hotmail.com)

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Table of Contents

History distribution and extinction in the wild 2

Saved from extinction by chance 3

Reintroduction to homeland 4

Population Management 5

Return into the former range 6

Wild population recovery 9

Potential hazards 11

Current status 13

References 15

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The Père David’s Deer (in Chinese-Milu), listed as extinct in the Wild by IUCN (2008), is endemic to China. It was discovered for western science by a French Jesuit missionary, Père Armand David, in Nan Haizi Imperial Hunting Park, Southeast of Beijing, in 1865. David’s deer is one of a few large mammal species extinct in the wild but safely preserved in captivity (Beck and Wemmer, 1983).

Courtesy: wikipedia

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1. History distribution and extinction in the wild

The Milu was once widely distributed along the Eastern seaboard and in the alluvial plains of the Yangtze River in China (Beck and Wemmer, 1983). However, the distribution of Milu shrank and its population declined due to over-hunting and human encroachment in the swampy areas as human population expanded (Jiang and Li, 1999). All animals in the last herd in the Nan Haizi Imperial Hunting Park in Beijing were eventually killed as a result of flood and war at the turn of the 20th century/early 1900s.

Courtesy: woburnabbey

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2. Saved from extinction by chance

Luckily, Milu was saved from extinction, thanks to the efforts of Herbrand, the 11th Duke of Bedford, who collected all remaining 18 individuals in the world to form a breeding

herd on his estate at Woburn Abbey, United Kingdom (Thouless et al., 1988). At the end of World War II, the size of the Woburn Abbey herd reached 250. To better protect the deer, the Duke of Bedford relocated some Milu to other zoological parks, first in the UK, and then to other countries (Maddison et al., 2012).

Courtesy: woburnabbey

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3. Reintroduction to homeland

Supported by zoologists, botanists, wildlife specialists and other scientists, the reintroduction of Milu to its natural habitat in China was identified as a priority by the Chinese authorities in the late 1970s. Eventually, two reintroduction projects were put in motion, one with the Bedford Family in the United Kingdom and one with WWF. Two sites, the Nan Haizi Milu Park in 1984 and Dafeng in Jiangsu province in 1985, were selected (Maria Boyd, personal communication 1984-87) as the sites for the reintroduction. The first reintroduction to China took place at Nan Haizi Milu Park (39°07’N, 116°03’E) in 1985 with 20 deer (5 males: 15 females) coming from Woburn Abbey. In 1987, 18 additional females, all from Woburn Abbey, were released to diversify the gene pool. The second reintroduction to Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve (32°59’N, 120°48’E) on the Yellow Sea coast in Eastern China took place in 1986 with a group of 39 deer (13 males: 26 females) collected from seven British zoos (Wan et al., 2011).

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4. Population Management

Since the reintroduction to its homeland, David’s deer gradually acclimatized to the local climatic conditions (Jiang et al., 2000; Jiang et al., 2001), and the population grew steadily in both places (Yang et al., 2003). The average annual population growth rates in Nan Haizi Milu Park was 17.3% in 1987-1997, and 17.01% in Dafeng Nature Reserve (Jiang et al., 2000).

Courtesy: china.org.cn

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5. Return into the former range

The ultimate goal of the reintroduction of Milu to their known former range meant that conservation efforts did not stop with the reintroduction of the species to Nan Haizi Milu Park and Dafeng Nature Reserve.

As early as 1988, scientists in Nan Haizi realized that the Milu population would soon outgrow the size of the Milu Park (60 ha size area), though a number of deer had been sent to some zoos in 1986 and 1988 (Yang et al., 2003). They started to search for a larger site in its former range. In 1989, a feasibility study was carried out in Hubei Province and an area along the Yangtze River (“Tian’ E Zhou Oxbow” in the vicinity of the Yangtze River Dolphin Reserve) was eventually selected for the establishment of a new Milu reserve. It was set up in 1991 covering an area of 1,567 hectares (Hubei Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve Masterplan 2012-2026).

In October 1993, a group of 34 deer (10 males: 24 females) was translocated to the Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve (29°49’N,

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112°33’E). Another two groups of 30 deer, 8 males and 22 females in 1994 and 15 males and 15 females in 2002 were released to the reserve to enlarge the population (Hubei Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve Masterplan 2012-2026). In November 2002, 30 deer (14 males: 16 females) from Nan Haizi Milu Park were translocated to Henan Yuanyang Forestry Farm (35°11’N, 114°15’E), on the Yellow River (Yang et al., 2003). In February 2012, 20 deer (6 males: 14 females) from Nan Haizi Milu Park were shipped to a breeding center in Liaoyang (41°06’N, 123°09’E), now the most northerly site where Milu breeds in China.

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Up to now, 34 sites with a total of 413 individuals have been selected by Nan Haizi Milu Park for translocation. These sites included 21 zoos, two deer farms, three forest farms, three nature reserves, three wetland parks and two breeding centers.

Unlike the Nan Haizi Milu Park, constrained in size and natural resources, the Dafeng Nature Reserve with a 2667-ha area can support a large population of Milu in China (Jiang et al., 2000). Since 1995, when 10 deer (3 males: 7 females) from Dafeng Nature Reserve were shipped to Shanghai Wildlife Park, a total of 11 relocated sites with 72 individuals were selected for translocation of Milu (Dafeng Nature Reserve, 2011; 2015).

Courtesy: Yancheng Dafeng

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6. Wild population recovery

The ultimate goal of the Milu reintroduction to its homeland was to re-establish a viable, self-sustaining wild population (IUCN, 2002; Beck et al., 2007), which would be a significant success of ex situ conservation for a wild extinct species. It actually happened in two ways.

In 1998, a first group of seven deer was released from the paddocks into the wider reserve in Dafeng Nature Reserve on the coast of Yellow Sea (Hu and Jiang, 2002). In 2003 and 2006, two additional groups of deer were released from the paddocks.

During the same year, in the summer time during the monsoon season, some Milu escaped from Shishou Nature Reserve by swimming across the Yangtze River during severe flooding. These deer eventually established three free living populations in other parts of the Yangtze River basin. In 1998, soon after the flood, two herds were found, one group of 11 deer in Yangpotan Village in Shishou County, and another group of 23 deer in Sanheyuan Village, also in Shishou County. In January, 1999, 5 deer (1 male: 4 females)

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were monitored by Shishou Nature Reserve officers in the East Dongting Lake National Natural Reserve (29°20’N, 112°55’E), Yueyang City in Hunan province. In March, 2010, 23 deer were found in Shengfeng Forest Farm, Huarong County in Hunan province. Except the Dongting population, the other three wild populations near Shishou are monitored by the Shishou Milu Reserve.

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7. Potential hazards

Though the Milu populations have steadily increased in captivity and in the wild, the species still faces serious and potentially disastrous issues. Milu has undergone a known genetic bottleneck. At present, all existing Milu worldwide are descended from seven female among the 18 individuals that were kept at Woburn Abbey in England during the period 1894-1904 (Woburn Abbey Archives, United Kingdom). Furthermore, all the Milu living in China are descendant of the original 38 individuals reintroduced to the Nan Haizi Milu Park and the 39 individuals reintroduced to the Dafeng Nature Reserve all coming from England during the 1985-1987 period. Some studies revealed a low level of genetic variation in Milu (Jiao et al., 2008; Zeng et al., 2013), being at risk for increased susceptibility to infectious pathogens (Wan et al., 2011). Due to the species weak ability of resisting diseases, every few years, malignant catarrhal fever breaks out in Europe and New Zealand and hemorrhagic enteritis in China cause a large number of Milu to die (Reid, 1992; Orr et al., 2011; Zhong et al., 2013). In May 2015, the spread of Clostridium welchii bacteria caused the death of 15 of 20

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individuals in Luanhe River Upstream National Nature Reserve, Weichang County in Hebei province. Other phenomenon like offspring abandonment, abortion and dystocia also hurt the birth rate of Milu every year.

The conflict between wildlife and humans is a big problem for wildlife conservation in general. Although Milu is a highly protected species in China (Class 1, the highest animal protection level in China), its ability to breed in large numbers and to forage widely also remind us that it was not long ago that they came into conflict with farmers nearby Shishou Nature Reserve and East Dongting Nature Reserve by eating their growing crops (Maddison et al., 2012).

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8. Current status

Today, Milu distribution data from overseas were collected under the support of Beijing Institute of Science and Technology Municipal Finance Project (PXM2013_178218_000003) awarded to Yanju Liu and her colleagues. The data shows that 54 sites in 26 countries (excluding China) had a total of 1022 individuals by May 2014 among the 62 sites contacted. By that date, there were at least 100 relocation sites in the world including 46 in China. (excluding zoos that relocated Milu from other zoos in China that are not included). Records show that there were about 3,954 individuals in 29 sites including Beijing Milu Park, Shishou Milu Nature Reserve, Dafeng Nature Reserve, East Dongting Nature Reserve and 25 other sites selected by Nan Haizi Milu Park. So in total, there were more than 5000 individuals in the world, of which a semi-wild population of 265 deer not given additional fodder in the third Core Area in Dafeng Nature Reserve (fenced area), about 500 individuals among the wild populations in Hubei, and about 70 deer in Dongting.

The latest data from May 2015 shows a steady increase in the number of deer with

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over 1100 deer in Shishou and Hubei province (about 500 deer in the Shishou Milu nature reserve and about 600 deer in the wild according to Vice Director Li Pengfei) and 2818 deer in Dafeng Nature Reserve including 265 semi-wild individuals.

This year marks the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Return of Milu to China. Although there is still a long way to go, the current status of Milu with several wild and semi-wild populations thriving in China makes it one of the most successful ex situ reintroduction projects for threatened species in the world. Nature conservationists in China and in the world will be excited and encouraged by this amazing achievement and one can only hope that the Milu success story, highlighted during this first Milu Symposium, will encourage a new generation to embrace animal and nature conservation, take the baton, and carry on.

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9. References

Beck B B, Wemmer C. The Biology and Management of an Extinct Species Père David’s Deer[M]. New Jersey: Noyes Publications,1983.

Beck B, Walkup K, Rodrigues M, Unwin S, Travis D, Stoinski T. Best Practice Guidelines for the Re-introduction of Great Apes. SSC: Primate Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland. 2007, 48 .

Boyd Maria, personal communication 1984-87.

Ding Y H. Chinese milu research. Changchun: Jinlin Publishing House for the Science and Technology, China [M]. 2004.

Hubei Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve Masterplan 2012-2026

IUCN. IUCN Guidelines for Nonhuman Primate Re-introductions. IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland. 2002.

Jiang Z G., Feng Z, Zhang L, Xia J, Ding Y, Yu C. Density dependent growth and population management strategy for Père david’s deer in china [J]. Acta Zoologica Sinica, 2001, 47(1): 53-58.

Jiang Z, Yu C, Feng Z, Zhang L, Xia J, Ding Y, Lindsay N. Reintroduction and Recovery of Père David’s Deer in China [J]. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2000:681-687.

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Jiang Z G, Li D Q. Land cover change and conservation of Przewalski’s gazelle and Père David’s deer[J]. Journal of Natural Resources, 1999, 14(4): 334-339.

Jiao Y, Ge Y F, Fang S G. Eight novel microsatellite markers from the Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) [J]. Conservation Genetics, 2008, 9(3):771-773.

Maddison N R, Jiang Z, Boyd M. The Père David’s Deer: Clinging on by a Cloven Hoof [J]. WAZA magazine, 2012, 13: 29-32.

Orr M B, Mackintosh C G. An outbreak of malignant catarrhal fever in Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) [J]. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 1988, 36(1):19-21.

Reid H W. The Biology of a Fatal Herpesvirus Infection of Deer (Malignant Catarrhal Fever) [J]. Biology of Deer, 1992, 93-100.

Thouless C R, Liang C, Loudon A S I. The Milu or Père David’s deer Elaphurus davidianus reintroduction project at Da Feng [J]. International Zoo Yearbook, 1988, 27(1):223–230.

Wan Q H, Zhang P, Ni X W, Wu H L, Chen Y Y, Kuang Y Y, Ge Y F, Fang S G. A Novel HURRAH Protocol Reveals High Numbers of Monomorphic MHC Class II Loci and Two Asymmetric Multi-Locus Haplotypes in the Père David’s Deer [J]. Plos One, 2011, 6(1): e14518.

Woburn Abbey Archives, United Kingdom.

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Yang R S, Zhang L Y, Tang B Q, Zhong Z Y. Status of the Chinese Milu Population[J]. Chinese Journal of Zoology, 2003, 38(2):76-81.

Zeng Y, Chunwang L I, Zhang L, Zhong Z, Jiang Z. No correlation between neonatal fitness and heterozygosity in a reintroduced population of Père David’s deer [J]. Current Zoology, 2013, 59(2): 249-256.

Zeng Y, Jiang Z, Li C. Genetic variability in relocated Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) populations - Implications to reintroduction program [J]. Conservation Genetics, 2007, 8(5): 1051-1059.

Zhong Z Y, Zhang L Y, Tang B T. The character of hemorrhagic enteritis of David’s deer in Beijing Nanhaizi from 2000 to 2009. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Medicine [J]. 2013, 45(4):56-58.

History Extinction Homeland Recovery Conservation Status

About the Authors

Zhi-Bin Cheng, Maja Boyd, Yan-Ju Liu and Jia-De Bai are with the Beijing Milu Ecological Research Centre, Beijing, People’s Republic of China and are working on conservation and breeding programmes. The Centre is celebrating its 30th Anniversary in November 2015.

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