How China's Endangered Deer Reclaimed Its Global Identity
SHISHOU, China, Dec. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a news report from Hubei Daily:
On November 27 in Shishou, Hubei, an event marking 40 years since the Milu's return to China revealed an important milestone: the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has officially adopted "Milu" as the species' international name. After a century and a half, this original name is finally recognized on the global stage.
For 160 years, the world knew me as "Pere David's Deer." But long before that—and all along in China—my name has been Milu.
My story began in the vast Yunmeng marshlands, once stretching across today's middle Yangtze River basin. Ancient texts, oracle bone inscriptions, and bronze vessels all bear traces of me. People called me "Sibuxiang"—a creature that looked like a deer, yet also a bit like a horse, a cow, and a donkey. For thousands of years, I roamed freely along the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.
But climate change, hunting, and shrinking wetlands pushed me to the brink. By the late Qing dynasty, only a small herd remained, kept in Beijing's Nanhaizi royal park. In 1865, French priest Armand David introduced me to Western science as a "newly recorded" species, and I got the name "Pere David's Deer." Soon after, war and upheaval erased me from China. Only 18 Milu survived, far away in the UK.
The turning point came in the 1980s. Chinese experts insisted that a native species should not remain in exile forever. And in 1985, China and the UK reached an agreement. 22 Milu returned home, and China began a bold, step-by-step conservation plan—rebuilding captive populations, restoring historical habitats, and gradually returning us to the wild.
Through floods, snowstorms, droughts, and years of careful scientific work, our numbers slowly recovered. Today, more than 15,000 Milu live across 27 provinces, including stable wild populations in Shishou, Dafeng, and the Dongting Lake wetlands.
This is not only a story of survival, but of identity.
Known for generations as "Pere David's Deer," I have now reclaimed the name that has belonged to me for millennia: Milu.
Click the link to read the full story of how a lost species—and its name—found its way home.
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