The famed deer was once extinct in China, but now its population in the country is growing.

Although wild milu were hunted to extinction in China during the early 20th century, the rare deer species can now be seen in the area around the Yangtze River as it flows through the provinces of Hubei and Hunan.

Recently, the habitat dedicated to milu at the Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve in Hubei province was expanded to cope with the growing population and better protect the species.

In January, a door was opened and 400 milu ran past the wire fence of the reserve's core area to a newly opened buffer zone of 533 hectares. The number of milu was about to reach the upper limit of the reserve's capacity, so the move was aimed at providing more space for the animals and avoiding security risks, the reserve said.

Shishou's warm, moist climate, lush water plants and wetland provide an ideal living environment for the animals.

In the early 1990s, 64 milu from Beijing were introduced to the reserve. Since then, the population has grown to more than 1,500. 

Wild population

Outside the reserve, about 1,000 of the deer live wild in nine counties and cities across Hubei and Hunan, making it the world's largest wild milu population, according to Yang Tao, the reserve's deputy director of management and scientific research.

"Last year, the number of fawns born at the reserve reached 307, which represented a rise of 15 percent from the previous year," he said. "That's because of the good wetland environment and effective (general) epidemic and disease prevention measures."

However, the rising population posed challenges in health management, especially in extreme weather, so expansion of the reserve was necessary, Yang said.

Last year, a prolonged drought dried ponds and rivers in the reserve, which made it hard for the animals to obtain drinking water and also prevented them from bathing in the water when temperatures rose. That resulted in too many milu gathering together, which led to a rise in the number of germs in the remaining water and raised the risk of an epidemic.

To solve the problem, reserve staff members bored wells in surrounding depressions and cleared litter in the exposed riverbeds to avoid injury to the milu, which proved to be an effective way of protecting the animals, Yang said.

In 1991, when the reserve was set up to protect the species, it was designed to have an area of 1,567 hectares near the Yangtze River.

Later, the local government decided to incorporate surrounding barren land and farmland into the reserve, which saw it expand from 133 hectares to 1,034. In 2017, Shishou took over a further 533 hectares for the buffer zone. About 3,300 local farmers were compensated for the loss of their land.

Local farmer Liu Jigao, 47, used to make a living by driving a plowing tractor. In 2012, he was hired temporarily to clear weeds, and was later employed as a long-term patroller. Now, he grows ryegrass and wheat as food for the milu, checks the fences every day and sees if any of the animals are sick.

He wears Wellington boots during all four seasons, patrolling the reserve from 7 o'clock every morning until late in the day. "Farming is seasonal, but the reserve always has work for me, which provides me with more security," he said.

To help the milu adapt to the new home in the buffer zone, the reserve has hired eight workers to care for them. The new recruits maintain the environment, build supply stations, erect security fences and install monitoring equipment.

"It is a question of how we can maintain sustainable development of the milu when the reserve reaches maximum capacity," Yang said. "We have realized the first goal of stable growth of the population. For the next step, we are aiming to establish a quality gene bank for the species."

He added that in addition to the expansion of activity space, the reserve will also improve the wetland ecosystem, strengthen daily supervision, increase the scientific management and research capability, and deepen awareness of environmental protection among the public.

Habitat maintenance

The Shishou reserve is one of two national nature reserves for milu protection in China, the other being located in Yancheng, Jiangsu province.

To restore the population and help the deer return to nature, the Shishou reserve said it "maintains the milu's natural living habits, preserves their habitats and maintains the ecosystem".

Human intervention has been reduced as much as possible to improve the animal's ability to adapt to nature.

In 1998, some milu were driven out of the reserve by a flood, and they now number 1,000, which indicates strong adaptability to the wild environment, Yang added.

Biodiversity in the reserve has also increased over the years. Based on the most recent scientific investigations, the number of higher plant species in the facility has risen from 238 in 1997 to 321, while the number of terrestrial vertebrates has risen too, from 90 to 320.

The reserve is also home to 56 wildlife species under State protection, including endangered birds such as the black stork and the oriental white stork, according to the management office.