The population of the once-extinct indigenous Milu deer has reached 8,216 after another productive birthing season in the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in east China's Jiangsu Province, the world's largest of its kind.
During this year's birthing season, which just concluded at the end of June, a total of 825 Milu deer were born. Among them, 197 were born in the wild, raising the total number of wild Milu deer in the nature reserve from 3,356 to 3,553.
Following the birthing season is a mating season from June to August, with male Milu deer in the nature reserve often staging fierce fights for the privilege to stay together with as many females as they wish.
All male deer aged over five can join the competition. They can freely choose a rival for battle. The winner will choose a new opponent among other winners, and the duels continue until the last round to produce a "king."
Thanks to the dueling, only the strongest and best genes of Milu deer are carried on, which drives the continuous expansion of the population.
The Milu deer, also known as elk deer or Pere David's deer, is a species endemic to China, which is under Class-A national protection.
The Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve covers a total area of 2,667 hectares. In 1986, the first batch of 39 Milu deer was introduced to the reserve from the United Kingdom. Now after more than 30 years of efforts on Milu deer protection, the population is seeing accelerating expansion.
"The Milu deer have adapted to the local biological environment, so the population is steadily growing. With a rising basis and higher fertilizy and survival rates, it is taking the population less and less time to reproduce 1,000 fawns," said Ren Yijun, director of nature reserve's technology department.
Population of Milu deer grows to 8,200 in east China's nature reserve
China has intensified its flood control efforts as the country's Yangtze River is experiencing its 2024 "No.1 Flood".
Due to continuous rainfall, the water level of Taihu Lake has risen to 3.81 meters as of Sunday afternoon, with 24 monitoring stations exceeding the warning level. Currently, Suzhou City of east China's Jiangsu Province has raised the emergency flood response level to Level III.
"In just a short span of 15 and a half hours, the water level [at Taipu sluice gate] rose by 21 centimeters. At present, Taipu sluice gate is discharging water downstream in accordance with the instructions from the Taihu Lake Basin Authority," said Ze Zhenrong, director of the Taipu River Management Office, Taihu Lake Basin Authority.
According to meteorological forecasts, the Taihu Lake Basin will continue to experience rainfall in the next three days, leading to a continued rise in the water level of the lake. It is possible that the water level may exceed four meters, indicating a severe flood control situation.
Affected by persistent heavy rainfalls, multiple tributaries connected to Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake, China's two largest freshwater lakes, have seen major flooding.
At 09:00 on Sunday, the water level at the Chenglingji hydrological station of Dongting Lake, in central China's Hunan Province reached 33 meters, surpassing the warning line.
The city of Yueyang has mobilized over 3,000 grassroots Party organizations and more than 80,000 Party members and officials to conduct 24-hour patrols.
Due to rainfall, a road collapse occurred on the Yueyang section of Pingjiang-Dongko Expressway at 08:00 on Sunday. The traffic police implemented temporary traffic control measures. Thanks to a timely response, there were no vehicles falling or casualties at the scene. Currently, the site of the collapse is still undergoing emergency repairs.
Also, starting from Saturday, the water level in the Wushui River section of Xinhuan County in Hunan's Huaihua City has been continuously rising. Local authorities immediately began relocating affected residents to safe areas. By the early morning of Sunday, a total of 28,000 people had been relocated in the area.
In addition, the education bureau of Huaihua issued a notice on Sunday, suspending all offline educational activities in primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, and extracurricular training institutions throughout the city.
Due to continuous rainfall and upstream inflows, the water level of Poyang Lake in east China's Jiangxi Province continues to rise even after surpassing the warning level. As of 09:00 on Sunday, the water level at the lake's landmark Xingzi hydrological station had exceeded the warning level by 1.69 meters.
China intensifies disaster control efforts as Yangtze River sees first flood of 2024
