Milu deer(糜鹿) ,a kind of animal with large horns(角) ,used to be common in China long ago. Like other deer, they lived together and ate grass and the soft parts of trees. People often killed Milu deer for food or sport. The Ming and Qing dynasties(朝代) did not protect them and killed many. That is how the Milu deer disappeared(消失) from China.
Luckily, before all of them lost their lives, someone took some deer to Britain to improve the environment of the beautiful park which belonged to Duke of Bedford(贝德福特公爵). He liked them so much that he took them from China to Britain. Milu deer liked the cool, wet weather in England and their number increased (增加)year by year. As a result, when in 1985,the government of China wanted to bring back the Milu deer, the Duke of Bedford was able to help. The first deer came back to China to the Nanhaizi Milu Park 20 kilometres south of Beijing and the centre in Dafeng, Jiangsu Province.
The deer certainly seem happy to be back in China because their number has grown quickly. There are now so many of them that people have opened a new centre for them in Hubei Province. At the moment the Milu deer live in centres where people protect and care for them. We hope that one day there will be enough animals to let them live in the wild again.
Survival conditions | Long ago | The number of them was very 1. |
In the2. and Qing dynasties | There were 3. Milu deer left in China | |
Later | A 4.man took some of them home and protected them so well that there were much 5.than before | |
In 6. | They came back to7.and have lived in centers since then | |
Life habits | Their favourite8. | They ate grass and the soft parts of trees |
Their favourite weather | They liked 9.and wet weather | |
Their future | They will become really 10.animals again |