Milu reintroduction – Continued 4 August – October 1985
Posted on July 29, 2014 by mariaboyd2014 under My Early Years In China (1984-1998)
The story of the Milu
continues from Part 3 (please click here to read):
In the course of preparations for the reintroduction of the Milu, our Team
worked at the Beijing Museum of Natural History in Dongcheng District. The
architecture of the building does not compare to the distinctive colonial style
of the Shanghai Museum of Natural History, but it was the first large scale
natural history museum created in China.
Its collections include paleontology, ornithology, mammals and
invertebrates and the number of complete large ancient mammal fossils ranks
second in the world. The Stegodon zdanskyi (an ancient elephant) is the most
famous and precious in the collection. I still remember the all-pervasive smell
redolent of moth-balls and cleaning liquid.
The afternoon was the best time to visit the museum as there were fewer
visitors and one could truly enjoy oneself. I often wondered whether at night,
after all staff had left, the animals were somehow coming back to life and
going around the museum. I could visualize the sea shells clicking together
while dancing to sea waves …. A bit like in the movie “Night at the Museum”.
Quite an eerie feeling.
Beijing Museum of Natural History
A team of experts in zoology, paleontology, botany, ecology and animal behaviour and other fields was allocated to the reintroduction project. Professor Wang Zongyi, who is a top calibre zoologist, acted as my counterpart on the Chinese side. There were also people from the farm to which the land of the Milu Park used to belong and I was the only foreign expert. A translator was always with me to ensure that I would know exactly what was done (or not done for that matter).
Maria Boyd and Prof. Wang Zong Yi
My key role was to coordinate all activities and ensure that, despite any potential breakdown in communication and lack of mutual understanding due to cultural differences, we would be able to work together as a Team to create the perfect and safe environment for the Milu upon arrival and once released at Nan Haizi.
After the agreement was signed on July 17, 1985, the final arrangements
were made. Two weeks before the deer were supposed to land in Beijing, I flew
to London to meet The Marquess of Tavistock to get the final brief. The deer
were going to be trucked across the English Channel and then loaded onto an Air
France Combi 747 in large crates. At the time, Air France was the only carrier
flying 747 Combi to Beijing and it was therefore the best option available. In
China, they would make their final journey to Nan Haizi by truck from the
Beijing airport.
One week before the deer left the UK, I flew back to Beijing from Paris on
a similar flight as the deer would take. At each stop we made (Karachi, Delhi),
I had made arrangements to meet the people responsible for providing fresh and
clean water for the deer to make sure all would be in order. It worked well.
The Marquess of Tavistock personally oversaw the transfer of the deer to
Paris and the loading on to the plane. His eldest son, Lord Howland, travelled
with the deer and he was accompanied by the head deer keeper and the person who
had been in charge of the quarantine of the deer in the UK.
All arrived safely at the Beijing International Airport on August 24th. After a brief moment of panic when two large crates went “temporarily missing”, and when I had a horrible vision of Milu running on the tarmac with people trying unsuccessfully to catch them, the deer crates were loaded on trucks for the slow two-hour trip to Nan Haizi.
Milu arrival at Beijing airport
Chinese regulations required a two-month quarantine before the animals could be released. A special section fenced with bamboo had been set up accordingly and all worked according to plan.
Milu quarantine quarters at Nan Haizi
On November 11, 1985, as the cold wind from the North China plains was
blowing, the long awaited release took place in the presence of the Marquess of
Tavistock, Vice Mayor Zhang Jiangmin, Mr. Qu Geping, Director of the National
Environmental Protection Agency, numerous scientists and environmental experts,
their families and the media.
Mr. Qu and the Marquess of Tavistock opened the bamboo doors of the
quarantine area. At first the deer did not want to leave their warm quarters
but some keepers entered and gently nudged them to leave their cozy
surroundings.
Finally released!
Thus after 85 years of absence the Milu had returned back to its homeland.
As the Marquess of Tavisotck mentioned rather emotionally: “Returning a herd
of these deer to China is something I wanted to do since I was a child – when
my grandfather showed them to me and told me their story. It must be a unique
exercise in conservation to return a species to virtually the precise spot
where it last lived. It is also satisfying to be able to complete the
conservation efforts my great grandfather began at the turn of the 19th
century”.
Within the next couple of years, the project produced many significant
benefits. The reintroduction aroused popular enthusiasm and brought much needed
attention to wildlife conservation in general. Birds that had not been seen for
many decades started to return to the park such as spoonbills, storks, white
egrets and others. And the deer adjusted well to their new environment.
The ultimate hoped-for aim of the reintroduction in Beijing (which was to
build up the population of Milu so that eventually sufficient animals would be available
for translocation in other parts of the country where they used to live freely
in the past) was getting closer to reality. This would eventually take place
eight years later in Hubei province, along the Yangtze River. But that is
another story.
CBCGDF greatly appreciate the amazing efforts by mariaboyd2014
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