Extinct In The Wild, Père David's Deer

“The Pere David's deer was once found only in China along the central and lower Yangtze River basin. But, years of overhunting and loss of its wetland habitat due to reclamation led to the extinction of the species in the wild in the early 20th century.“  In 1864, The French missionary Père Armand David “discovered”  the deer in the Nanyuang Royal Hunting Garden otherwise closed off to the world since the Yuan Dynasty (1205-1368).  Several from this group were imported to Europe. When the garden was occupied by troops during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, the remaining deer were shot. “However, a small population of Pere David's deer bred at the Woburn Abbey wildlife park in the United Kingdom were re-introduced to the Central Yangtze in 1985 by the Chinese government, and in 1986 by WWF....A recent count put the population at 2,500 individuals in three national nature reserves.” The Pere David's Deer remain extinct in the wild.