📸 PhotoPhoto: Carlos Delgado · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Pere David's Deer
Elaphurus davidianus (Pere David's Deer · シフゾウ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its average weight of 186.5 kg equals about 9 bags of 20 kg rice (Comparison).
- 💡 It is also farmed for meat and can be seen in hunting parks (Animal Diversity Web).
- 💡 Beijing Milu Park and Dafeng Milu Natural Reserve are the two sites protecting wild herds (Animal Diversity Web).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
Pere David's Deer is a deer that once lived in the lowland swamps of China and can now be seen only in two Chinese reserves and in zoos around the world. Unlike most deer, it is very fond of water.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its summer coat is reddish-brown and its winter coat grayish-brown, with a black stripe along the shoulders. Males shed their antlers every year in December–January, and the long tail ends in a dark tassel.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on grasses and also eats large amounts of aquatic plants in summer. It wades up to its shoulders and swims well; during the rut, males fast while defending a harem of females and rapidly lose weight.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List EW (2016) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/7121/22159785
- • IUCN Red List category EW — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1006318
- • iucnredlist.org — 22159785
- • wikidata.org — Q207906
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Elaphurus davidianus - 01.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Elaphurus davidianus
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Steven Traver · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Cervus elaphus)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.