Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
This is the moment park rangers spot a stag running around with a 33-pound fishing net stuck on its antlers before they remove it following a seven-mile chase.
The rare Pere David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) strayed away from its herd at the Poyang Lake Nature Reserve in East China’s Jiangxi Province after having caught its head inside the shrimp fishing net.
The distressed stag which could not see was spotted by two park rangers on 9th November, and they began a seven-mile pursuit of the animal in order to free it.
Footage from the shores of Poyang Lake, which is China’s largest freshwater lake, shows the stag being chased by park rangers but fleeing from fear.
The nature reserve said in a report that it took two hours and seven workers to capture the stag, which was ultimately brought down using a lasso.
The fishing net weighing 15 kilogrammes (33 lbs) was removed in 10 minutes, with the buck remaining calm until it is freed, before springing up and galloping away.
The Pere David’s deer was not harmed, but rangers said the fishing net posed a threat to its life and needed to be removed as soon as possible.
The species native to the wetlands of China is known locally as ‘milu’, and was driven to extinction due to hunting and habitat loss.
The stag is one of 47 reintroduced to the nature reserve in April 2018 in a bid to diversify the local ecosystem and recreate a self-sustaining population of the deer species, which in 2008 was classified as extinct in the wild.
This followed an initial release of 10 deer in the area in 2013 for a five-year adaptability survey.
The Poyang Lake herd appears to have successfully adapted and is growing in numbers, with last year’s 47 having already given birth to 10 offspring, the reserve reported.
The milu reintroduction programme will continue with more microchipped groups released each year for the next decade.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
