Hainan Eld’s deer (Cervus eldi hainanus) was once widely distributed in Hainan Island of China. With the rapid increase of human population and the fast expansion of agriculture in the recent 350 years of Chinese history, the habitat of the deer has been greatly reduced. Habitat loss and hunting have driven the deer to the verge of extinction. The last group of 26 deer was protected at Datian Nature Reserve (DNR) which was founded in 1976. The habitat at present remains only 13.14 km2 at DNR, just 4.38–6.57% of that of the 1950’s. The deer population increased to over 1,000 individuals in 2003 under the protection of enclosure building along the boundary of DNR. Moreover, an off-site conservation approach for the deer has been launched since 1990. A total of 83 deer from DNR had been accumulatively introduced to establish off-site populations by the end of 2000. The off-site conserved populations had reached 263 by the end of 2002, of which 246 animals were born in captivity or semi-captivity. A new off-site population in the natural environment was founded by introducing 65 animals from DNR during July to December 2003. The deer population still however faces challenges of habitat limitation, decrease of genetic diversity, inbreeding and poaching. Conservation approaches needed to practice immediately have been proposed in this paper.
Golden takin (Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi; Bovidae), is found only in the Qinling Mountains of western China. Radio-tracking and direct observations were carried out at Foping Nature Reserve in Shaanxi Province to study social behavior of the takin, including group sizes, group composition and group stability. Golden takins are gregarious. Mean group size among 1,039 takins sighted in groups was 10.82 ± 0.96 (n = 96) individuals excluding solitary individuals. The largest group had 59 animals and 50% of the animals were seen in groups larger than 15 individuals during the study period. The results from this study indicate that the core social unit of golden takin is adult females accompanied by their offspring of more than one generation. 53.1% of all groups included more than one adult female, and 63.3% of all groups had more than one subadult or calf. The mean size of groups formed by adults with subadults or calves was 14.83 ± 2.34 (n = 29) individuals. The ratio of adult females to adult males was 1.0 : 0.49, skewed in favor of females. The results also show that takin groups are unstable and group composition can vary over time. Reproductive activity of adult males, subadult leavings from their mother’s group and human disturbance are suggested to be factors responsible for group size variation.