Red deer, once a Tibetan wild animal widely acknowledged as extinct by the animal research circle, has been confirmed to have increased year by year to 400 till now, according to the Forestry Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Red deer spotted in the Red Deer Natural Reserve in Sangri County, Lhoka Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region [Photo/Xinhua]

Sonam Dorje, director of the Forestry Bureau of Lhoka Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, introduces that an adult red deer weighs about 110 kilograms and stands 1.2 meters till the shoulder line, with its horns sticking out in five different directions and curved towards the inside. Red deer are only found in Lhoka Prefecture and are mainly distributed in Sangri County within the prefecture.

Sonam Dorje says, Tibetan red deer were discovered 150 years ago in the first place. It ranks above white-lipped deer in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora as it has been illegally and excessively hunted for its commercial value. Also affected by the environment change, the specie had disappeared till the 1940s and was declared extinct in 1990 in the international seminar on endangered species.

Five years later in 1995, Tibetan red deer were rediscovered by Liu Wulin, a researcher at the Forestry Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region, Wang Xiaoming, a professor of the East China Normal University and Dr. Gorge Shirer, a wild animal expert. The news had caused a sensation among the international animal research community.

Since then, the number of Tibetan red deer has increased on an annual basis.

In 1998, Sonam Dorje encountered this legendary wild animal by accident. However, at the time he did not know what it was that he saw and only leant it after checking documents back home. He says he was so excited as if he had seen a miracle.

In June, in the Sangri County Red Deer Natural Reserve teemed with plants and vegetation, red deer can be seen rest or find food at the plain areas on the mountain side. When approached by people, they just look up for one moment and return to eat grass.

This natural reserve is reported to cover 180,000 hectares and contain 42 administrative villages. There are also other animals such as yaks, blue sheep and river deer living and breeding here.

Anu is the deputy director general of local Forestry Bureau and he lives in the natural reserve. He says that red deer would come down the mountain in groups to drink water. Red deer can often be found outside his house and long enough he would mistake them as his own yaks.

In Lhoka Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, there are reported to have more than 20 kinds of grade one stated protection animals such as snow leopards, black-necked cranes and Tibetan kiangs and over 50 kinds of grade two state protection animals including red deer, bar-headed geese and argali. Two natural reserves have been built up in Lhoka Prefecture, namely the Black-necked Crane Natural Reserve at the middle reach of the Yarlung Zangbo River and the Red Deer Natural Reserve in Sangri County.