Milu – Making the news since 1982
Posted on August 12, 2014 under My Early Years In China (1984-1998)
Although largely unknown in the west, the Milu has iconic status in China.
The Milu stands with the Panda, the tiger, the Yangtze dolphin (now believed to
be extinct), the finless porpoise, the Yangtze sturgeon, the Chinese alligator,
the Przewalski horse and the Crested Ibis on the list of China and the world’s
most endangered species.
Endangered species in China
The extinction of the Milu in its homeland and its successful
reintroduction more than 80 years later make a great story and Milu has been in
the news ever since information of their reintroduction captured the
imagination of people in China and abroad.
Beijing Daily article about the signing of the preliminary agreement and the eminent return of the Milu to China – February 28, 1985
People’s Daily announcing the opening of Milu Park for the Milu returning
to China Aug. 22, 1985
My first interview regarding the Milu took place much earlier than the
actual reintroduction. While in the US in 1982, I met by chance a reporter
working for The Christian Science Monitor and during our chat I
mentioned the Milu. She was very interested and eventually published a story
featuring the Milu saved from extinction by the Bedford family. It was
followed by an interview with National Geographic Magazine. The
editorial team had read the story in Christian Science Monitor and
wanted to put together a full fledged article on the Milu. Entitled “Saving
Pere David’s Deer”, it remains one of the most interesting interviews I ever
did. I found the editor, Larry Kohl, well informed and very interested not only
in the saving of the deer as such but also interested in many aspects of the
ancient history of the Milu: literature, porcelain and paintings among others.
Following the initial interview, National Geographic actually organized
a trip to the UK where Kohl and photographer Bates Littlehales spent one week
at Woburn Abbey. Larry had extensive chats with the Marquess of Tavistok and
did additional research to collect valuable information for the article. National
Geographic published a second piece on Milu in 1989 entitled “Return of the
Native: Deer Go Home to China”.
Cover of National Geographic Magazine, October 1982 issue
Soon after, the Marquess of Tavistock and I did several interviews with
various newspapers in the UK. The first British paper was the Daily
Telegraph. The Marquess of Tavistock was a great interviewee as he had many
anecdotes for the media. He talked about the first time he heard the story of
the Milu from his grandfather; the promise he made to himself at age 13 to, one
day, return the Milu to China; his immense pride that four generations of the
Bedford family managed, on their own, a successful captive breeding program
that saved the Milu from extinction; and the reintroduction of the animal to
its homeland when animal conservation and environmental issues were of little
concern to most people in the world. He also spoke of his happiness in being
able to pass the baton to his eldest son (Andrew, now the 15th Duke
of Bedford) to continue in the footsteps of his ancestors; and his dream to see
a free living population of Milu in China. Sadly he did not live to see his
dream become reality as he passed away in 2003, aged 63, twenty years after he
started discussion with Chinese authorities about the return of the Milu to
China. In 2005, the Beijing authorities honoured the Duke’s memory by
unveiling his statue at Nan Haizi during celebrations of the 20th
Anniversary of the Milu reintroduction in the presence of his widow, Henrietta,
Dowager Duchess of Bedford, and his three children, Andrew, 15th
Duke of Bedford, Lord Robin Russell and Lord James Russell. It is very unusual
for Chinese authorities to honour a foreign national in such a way and it
showed the deep respect and immense gratitude that they felt for him and his
family.
The first interviews with Chinese media took place on August 26, 1985, at
the Beijing Capital Airport. Several journalists were among the group awaiting
the arrival of the Air France 747 Combi and they wished to know everything
about the Milu, how they were saved from extinction by the 11th Duke
of Bedford, and how did someone born in Slovakia, married to an American, who
studied at Oxford was handling their reintroduction in China on behalf of the
Bedford Family. To this day I regret that my husband, Johnny, passed away
before he could see the success of the reintroduction. He was a zoologist,
specializing in birds. He spent several years studying the Emperor penguins in
the Ross Iceshelf near McMurdo Station in the Antarctic and he was a close
friend of the Marquess of Tavistock.
China Daily front page article announcing the arrival of Milu to
Beijing Aug. 26, 1985
South China Morning Post announcing the arrival of the first herd of Milu in Beijing Aug. 26, 1985.
China Environmental Newspaper announcing the arrival of Milu in Beijing
Aug. 27, 1985
During the first few years, several journalists were keenly interested in the reintroduction project and contributed greatly to the cause (so to speak) by generating awareness among the general public outside of China and also in scientific and conservationist circles. One was Nigel Sitwell from England. He travelled several time to Beijing to see the Milu at Nan Haizi and he closely followed their progress and translocations to various places in China. The other one was Hong Kong-based British free-lance journalist, Jane Ram. She has regularly featured the Milu reintroduction in various publications from the early days. Jane came several times to Nan Haizi and once to the Hubei Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve during the preparation of a Master Plan (2012-2026) for the creation of a Center for Excellence on Conservation at the Hubei Shishou Milu National Nature Reserve.
Nigel Sitwell’s 1986 article published in “Intrepid” magazine”
In China, interest in the Milu never stopped following the reintroduction.
In 1987, the birth of the first 10 fawns was welcomed as the confirmation that
the reintroduction was a success and the future of the Milu in China ensured.
Interestingly, many media published the news using the same picture.
Birth of new fawns China Daily Apr. 25, 1987
Official announcement by Xinhua News Agency for the birth of Milu fawns
Apr. 24, 1987
New Fawns at Nanhaizi, Beijing Youth Apr. 24, 1987
Some media in China also featured the “legend of the Milu” or more
precisely its origin: According to Chinese legend, when a tyrant called King
Zhou ruled the land more than 4,000 years ago, a horse, a donkey, an ox and a
deer went into a cave deep in the forest to meditate. On the day when the King
conducted an execution, the animals awoke from their meditation and turned into
humans. As such, they learned of the King’s heinous acts and decided to take
recourse against him. To do so, they transformed themselves into one creature
that combined the speed of the horse, the strength of the ox, the donkey’s keen
sense of direction and the nimble agility of the deer. The Milu was born! The
Lord of Heaven, upon learning of the animal’s quest, dispatched the creature to
one of his disciples, the sage Jiang Ziya, who was battling King Zhou. Jiang
Ziya rode the creature to victory over the King and helped found the Zhou
Dynasty. After fulfilling its vow, the Milu settled in the lower reaches of the
Yangtze River and became a symbol of good fortune.
The Milu story still generates coverage internationally and last year I
read with interest a piece on the science blog of the Nature Conservancy on how
Milu survived the odds from the brink of
extinction.(//blog.nature.org/science/2013/09/23/pere-davids-deer/).
In China, I continue to scrutinize media coverage of the Milu looking for
any errors. Last month (July 2014), an article featuring endangered species in
China mentioned that the Milu was found in Tibet. The following issue of the
same publication went on to state that the Milu was illegally sent overseas in
the late 19th century. Both are totally incorrect. The Milu was
legally obtained by the French and British Missions in Beijing and sent to
several European Zoos at the turn of the 19th century from where the
11th Duke of Bedford gathered them onto his estate and eventually
saved them from extinction. I called the Editor in Chief to complain about this
total nonsense and hopefully she will publish a correction in a future issue.
I always get very upset when I read misinformation about the Milu and
their reintroduction. Sadly, despite my calls, corrections appear very rarely
in any publication. Fortunately, nowadays people interested in nature
conservation can easily access correct information on the Internet. The
most recently published news about the Milu Park mentions that it is one of the
10 top weekend destinations to visit this summer in Beijing. Milu still makes
the news!
Comments
Post a Comment