Eight "indigenous people" settled in Binjiang Forest Park! New Area Forestry Station releases a new batch of deer in the wild

Strolling through the Binjiang Forest Park located at the northernmost point of Pudong, one may inadvertently encounter Shanghai's special "indigenous people" - Zhang. On September 7th, 8 more deer officially moved into their new homes through the joint release work of the Pudong New Area Forestry Station, East China Normal University, Shanghai Zoo, Binjiang Forest Park, and other units.

The deer, also known as the roe deer, soil roe deer, fragrant roe deer, or river muntjac, is a small wild animal in the deer family. It often chooses riverbanks, lakesides, grassy beaches in the center of the lake, beaches with reeds or thatched grass as its daily habitat, and also lives in low hills and grassy shrubs at the edge of island forests.

Zhang was widely distributed along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China and is a nationally protected species at the second level. Shanghai and its surrounding areas have been one of the distribution areas of deer in history. However, due to the continuous expansion of urbanization, especially the impact of large-scale urban development and construction, this species became extinct in the Shanghai area in the early 20th century.

In 2007, Pudong New Area launched a pilot population project for reintroducing Zhang, introducing 21 species of Zhang from Zhejiang Zhoushan Zhang Breeding Farm to Huaxia Park. Through more than 10 years of captive breeding, a stable captive population was expanded and the healthy offspring were transported to Binjiang Forest Park, Nanhui Dongtan, Songjiang Punan Forest, Xinbang Forest, and Chongming Mingzhu Lake for wildization and release.

As of the current wild release event, Huaxia Park had exported a total of 315 deer. At present, Zhang has formed some small populations in the suburbs and beaches of Shanghai, becoming an important symbol of Shanghai's construction as an international ecological city. Recently, with the end of the breeding season of the Chinese deer in the Huaxia Park, a new batch of wild release cycles for the deer have arrived.

The New Area Forestry Station, in collaboration with East China Normal University and Shanghai Zoo, has established an expert working group to once again carry out wild release work. On the morning of the 7th, the expert working group selected 8 strong deer for wild release after screening based on age and gender. After the arrest, members of the expert working group wore satellite positioning collars for the deer and collected samples of blood, hair, and anal swabs for continuous monitoring in the future.

At 10:30 am, 8 deer took an air-conditioned car from Huaxia Park and arrived at Binjiang Forest Park after more than an hour's drive. Nie Dayi, a doctoral student who participated in the Zhang research project with Professor Chen Min from the Department of Life Sciences at China Normal University, told reporters that the wild release of Zhang requires attention to multiple aspects, such as checking for parasites in advance and paying attention to stress during transportation. "Therefore, the transportation time should be controlled within three hours, and their body temperature should also be avoided from being too high."

At around 12 noon, the wild release officially began. Eight deer were gradually released from the transport box and bounced into the jungle, disappearing without a trace. "Overall, the condition of these deer is still good," Nie Dayi said. "In the future, we will continue to track, monitor, and protect the wild deer through satellite positioning collars and infrared trigger cameras."

It is reported that this is the third batch of wild deer released by Binjiang Forest Park. In November 2009, 12 deer moved from Huaxia Park to Binjiang Forest Park, and in January 2010, two more were added. The park's relevant person in charge introduced that currently, the first batch of wild released deer can still be observed in the park, and this wild release is also a supplement to the original population.

Zhang is a timid and shy animal, and with the free opening of the park and the increase in passenger flow, how to better survive Zhang in the park has become a concern for the management of Binjiang Forest Park. The person in charge stated that in recent years, the park has specially created areas suitable for deer in the construction of green environments, and has also added plants that are popular among deer such as purple sepals and February orchids. It has also specifically eliminated the influence of stray dogs on deer, allowing this Shanghai "indigenous person" to better settle down in the park.

During the wild release event on that day, the Forestry Station in Pudong New Area also signed a joint construction agreement with Binjiang Forest Park, working together to protect the deer population.

Text/Photography: Zhang Lei

*Reprinted from official WeChat account released by Pudong