The Milu deer has returned to China. At present there are not many Milu deer in nature parks in China, but the number is increasing every year.
The Milu deer is a kind of deer that used to be common in China long ago. However, it disappeared during the Ming and the Qing periods. Too many of the deer had been killed and they disappeared.
Until recently，the only Milu deer alive in the world belonged to the Duke（公爵） of Bedford in England. Some deer had been taken to England，where they were kept in the great park. They liked the cool wet weather there and their number increased year by year. Today this park in England has the largest number of Milu deer in the world. In fact，there are now so many deer that some are being sent to places which would like to return this kind of deer to the wild.
At present, the biggest nature park for Milu deer in China is the Nanhaizi Milu Park, which is about 20 kilometres south of Beijing. It is an important research centre for nature and wildlife. The life of the Milu deer is being studied there.
The first deer arrived at the centre in 1985 from Britain. By 1993 the number of Milu deer at the centre had grown from 20 to more than 200.
Another centre for Milu deer is in Dafeng in Jiangsu Province. In 1985, 39 Milu deer were brought to the province from Britain. Since then the number of Milu deer there has greatly increased.
More Milu deer are being moved to a new large nature park in Shishou in Hubei Province. At all these centres it is hoped that one day they will have enough animals to set them free and live in the wild again. So once more there will be Milu deer living in the wild in China.