Deer species extinct in the wild born at AquaZoo Leeuwarden

An extremely rare baby deer has been born at AquaZoo. In fact, the Frisian park was able to welcome a Padre David deer calf this week. This species is extinct in nature and can only be seen in zoos and nature reserves all over the world.

At the beginning of the last century, only 16 of these deer were still alive in different European zoos. Thanks to mutual cooperation of European zoos, they were brought together and the species was preserved. The buck and two hinds at AquaZoo also came to the Frisian zoo as part of this cooperation in 2022.

Wish

Chief zookeeper William Kreijkes is therefore very happy with the birth of the calf. "It was our wish to be able to contribute to the preservation of this species. But of course it is no guarantee that it will succeed, so this is really very nice."

The next few weeks will remain exciting, Kreijkes knows. "It is the first cub of this mother, so then it is extra waiting to see if she picks up the care well and the calf can drink enough. But so far it looks hopeful." It is not yet known whether it is a male or female.

None of the four

In Chinese, Father David deer is called "sze pu shiang." This means "none of the four." The animal is so named in Chinese because it looks like it is made up of the neck of a camel, the hooves of a cow, the antlers of a deer and has a donkey-like tail.

It is the only deer species in which the male sometimes gets new antlers twice a year. The points of the antlers point backward in the Padre David deer. In all other deer species, the points point forward. The gestation period is one of the longest of all deer species at 9.5 months.

Wetlands

The animals are at AquaZoo in a brand-new enclosure located near the tigers, in the Amur area. Because the deer in the wild like to seek out the water to eat aquatic plants and rest, two large, shallow wading areas have been created in which they can luxuriate.

Father David deer used to be commonly found in wetlands and swamps in China. Due to intensive hunting, this species was almost extinct by the nineteenth century and was found only in the emperor's garden. After a visit by Father David - who gave them their European name - a number of animals were sent to European zoos.

Retained

When the last Padre David deer living there were eaten in China after the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, only sixteen of this species remained in Europe. These were brought together by the Duke of Bedford on his English estate, saving the species.

After World War II, the animals were housed in various European zoos and nature reserves in China. In this way, the species was preserved and there are now several thousand Father David deer worldwide.

Kreijkes: "This is a really good example of how zoos contribute to species conservation. It's great that we are now part of this as well."

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