Rare Chinese Deer Have Many Strange Traits

Rare Chinese Deer Have Many Strange Traits LIVESTOCK Exotic Animals Pere David s Deer are a threatened species native to China that was once extinct in the wild but is now making a comeback A sprinkling of private breeders like Cindi Darling of Sparta Mo are working to continue increasing the exotic animal s population
    Attempts to describe the deer include many comparisons: they have the neck of a camel the hooves of a cow the tail of a donkey and the antlers of a stag
     Pere David s have a body that s shaped similarly to a donkey with a tail that ends in a black bush longer than the tail of any other species of deer says Darling from her Liar s Lake Breeding Farm They have a long slender neck unlike most other deer and the head is sometimes described as being like a horse The hooves make a clicking sound when walking and the male s uneven antler tines point backwards
    Only the males carry antlers and they may produce two sets per year she adds The coat is reddish tan in summer with a dark dorsal stripe and changes to dark gray in the winter These animals weigh between 300 and 450 lbs
    Pere David s don t act like other deer either according to Darling They prefer marshland spending much of their time wading and swimming in the water and eating water plants but they will also consume pasture grasses
     They re so unusual and with not that many around it s gratifying to breed them Darling says They re not exactly pretty sleek or cute but they are charming to be around and quite calm I just think they re cool
    When Father Armand David a naturalist from the west discovered this Chinese animal in 1865 it had already been wiped out in its natural habitat The Emperor of China was raising the only remaining animals in his private hunting reserve in the Forbidden City
    Fortunately he had given a few small groups of the animals to several European countries as gifts because later when struck with floods and famine his own captive group perished The only herd to survive was one in England It flourished and as a result in the 1980 s the deer were re-introduced to the wild in China where they have been reestablishing     
    Darling has only recently added Pere David s Deer to her large menagerie of exotic animals and currently has five She s expecting more offspring this year
    A much larger herd can be found at McRoberts Game Farm www mcroberts gamefarm com in Nebraska where 80 head live
    According to Darling Pere David s Deer sell for an average of about $1 750 for a weanling and about $3 000 for mature breeding animals
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Cindi Darling 1226 Liars Lake Rd Sparta Mo 65753 ph 417 634-4115; fax 417 634-4072; watusi@liarslake com; www liarslake com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.