China plans to relocate 500 to 600 Eld's deer, a rare breed
endemic to south China's Hainan
Province, from their habitat in the Datian Nature Reserve to
other protected zones on the island before the end of the year.
A panel of experts from the Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Hainan has been investigating
unpopulated sections of Changjiang and Ledong counties and Dongfang
City in the search for new homes for the deer.
All the new homes should have received approval by mid-November
and about 500, or half of the total population of Eld's deer in the
reserve, will be gradually relocated before December. The first of
them were transferred last Sunday.
Eld's deer used to roam over the entire island, but their
numbers were reduced to just 26 in 1976 by human encroachment and
the deteriorating environment. Steps taken to protect the species
since that time include the establishment of the Datian Nature
Reserve in 1976, and intensified research on methods of
propagation.
These measures have paid off, with the Eld's deer population
growing an average of 15 percent annually.
However, there are now more than 1,000 Eld's deer in the Datian
reserve. That puts 76 deer on every square kilometer of land, far
above the natural density of 10 to 15 deer per square kilometer.
Food shortages next spring could lead to widespread deaths among
the deer, especially of the young ones, warned Professor Song
Yanling, of the CAS' animal research institute.
Since the early 1990s, forestry departments have relocated more
than 80 Eld's deer reared in captivity and 100 wild ones to Bangxi,
Ganshiling, Tunchang and other protection zones in Hainan, as well
as to Shanghai Zoo, to study problems the deer may have in adapting
to environments outside their natural habitat. The efforts have
produced positive results.
Under the relocation plan, other animals such as Hainan rabbits
and wild boar, which vie for food with Eld's deer, will also be
relocated elsewhere, according to a source with the Hainan
Provincial Forestry Bureau.
(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2004)