ENDEMIC to the Tibetan Plateau in China, the white-lipped deer is under first-class state protection, and was included in the Red List of Endangered Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2013. Roaming across the plateau that stretches over Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces as well as Tibet Autonomous Region, the deer is regarded as divine and honored by local people.
The Deer with the Highest Habitat
The white-lipped deer is large, and can weigh anywhere between 130 and 200 kg. It has a body length of 100 to 210 cm and a shoulder height of 120 to 130 cm. The deer has the shortest tail among all large deer, measuring 10 to 15 cm. Also dubbed the white-nosed deer, the species gets its name because of the pure white patches on its lower lips, stretching to the upper throat and sides of the mouth.
The white-lipped deer is characterized by a triangular shaped head, broad and flat forehead, long pointed ears and prominent eyes. Male deer have broad flat antlers which grow and fall off annually, and are regarded as valuable in traditional Chinese medicine. Because of their broad antlers they are also known as flat-antler deer.
The deer has a long neck and pale yellow patches on the buttocks. In winter, their hair becomes dark brown with small, light maroon patches, leading to some calling them red deer. In summer, the hair becomes even darker, like yellowish brown with light yellow abdomen and yellow patches on the buttocks around the tail. Therefore, they are also called yellow-hipped deer.
The deer has a sensitive nose and ears along with the ability to climb bare rock cliffs. The male deer has large and broad hooves while the female deer has narrower ones. While walking they make a clicking sound that comes from their ankles, which may be signals for communication. They are also able to swim across wide and turbulent rivers.
Their habitat, in the forests, shrubs, and meadows at 3,500 to 5,000 meters above sea level, features cold weather with deep snow from November to April. Preferring to stick to forest edges and glades, the typical alpine species has thick hard hair over their body which is hollow to preserve heat during severe cold spells, while the bristles on the shoulders of the male deer grow in the reverse direction, looking like a wrinkled collar.
The elegant deer generally wanders in herds ranging from three to five members, up to 100 to 200 based on different seasons or habitats. In the case of searching for food or water, or when being hunted, they will migrate as far as 100 to 200 km and climb up to an altitude of 5,000 meters, or move to islands in the lake areas, wetlands or grasslands. If frightened, the stags run toward higher places, whereas the hinds escape to lower regions.
The deer spends most of the summer at high altitude and migrates to shrubby meadows at lower altitude in winter to avoid the snow. Its diet is made up mostly of grasses, but they also eat the buds, leaves, twigs, and bark of trees. They usually feed in the morning and at dusk and develop a habit of licking salt in the soil and lake water especially in spring and summer.
An Ancient Species Originating from the Himalayas
Nearly 80 percent of the Tibetan Plateau steppe provides pastures for yaks, sheep, and goats. The white-lipped deer have to retreat to the remaining 20 percent of the pasture. Although they are protected and regarded as sacred by local people, the population is declining due to shrinking living space and fragmentation.
The deer breeds once a year with the mating season from September to November. Mating season is characterized by fighting adult males who break their antlers frequently in the hunt for mates. Females give birth to one fawn, occasionally two, around next May to July after a pregnancy of eight months. The newborn fawns are covered with patches which disappear in one month and begin feeding on grass at one month old. The fawns get sexually mature at three, while the stags usually fight for mates after five. The birth rate of the species is low. Wild white-lipped deer generally live to 12 years, while those in captivity can survive up to 21 years.
The deer is an ancient species. Their fossils have been found in the strata dating back to the late Pleistocene period. They used to be endemic to the central region of the Himalayas. The formation of the Himalayas in the late Tertiary and early Quaternary periods resulted in sharp uplift of the ground around the Tibetan Plateau and the disappearing of forests. Consequently, the habitat of the white-lipped deer shrank to the east.
As the habitat of the deer was inaccessible, there is no written record of the species in Chinese history. In 1883, Russian geographer Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky obtained the first specimens of the white-lipped deer in northern Gansu Province, attracting biologists’ attention to this species. In 1893, English geologist and naturalist William Thomas Blanford observed the white-lipped deer during a field trip in Tibet and named it Thorold’s deer. After that, the species was reportedly observed by German and American biologists in 1938 and 1939 respectively. These early findings provide fragmented information on the geographical location of the white-lipped deer.
By the end of the 1990s, there were about 15,800 white-lipped deer in China. Currently, they mainly live in Sichuan, Qinghai, and Tibet with a population of around 7,000. Among them, 1,500 to 2,000 are in Shiqu County, 200 in Dege County, and 3,000 in Baiyu County of Sichuan Province. In Tibet Autonomous Region, it is estimated that there are 134 in Jomda County, and 300 in Nyingchi, a prefecture-level city. Most of them are semi-captive. There are very few wild white-lipped deer.
The rare white-lipped deer is of unique significance. Although China has learned how to breed the species and they can be seen in many domestic zoos, to date it has only given a pair of the rare species to Sri Lanka and Nepal as gifts.
JIANG FUMEI is a freelancer in Beijing.
