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A Père David's deer with magnificent antlers

Milu

Milu or Père David's Deer now only exist in captivity. Curiously, some of the stags can grow and shed a second set of antlers each year.

Scientific name: Elaphurus davidianus

Rank: Species

Common names:

Père David's deer

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Milu taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Milu can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, China. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Milu distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Extinct in the wild

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Population trend: Increasing

Year assessed: 2008

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

Père David's Deer (Elaphurus davidianus), also known as the milu (Chinese: 麋鹿; pinyin: mílù) or elaphure, is a species of deer that is currently extinct in the wild — all known specimens are found only in captivity. This semiaquatic animal prefers marshland, and is native to the subtropics of China. It grazes mainly on grass and aquatic plants. It is the only extant member of the genus Elaphurus. Based on genetic comparisons, Père David's Deer is closely related to the deer of the genus Cervus, leading many experts to suggesting merging Elaphurus into Cervus, or demoting Elaphurus to a subgenus of Cervus.

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