This species of deer was discovered in China in 1865 by a French missionary and explorer, Père Armand David. Before then the species was completely unknown to Western scientists. At great personal risk, Père David secured hides and bones from the Chinese Imperial Hunting Park - the only place where the animals were known to exist - so that the species could be accurately described.Over the following years, a few deer from the Imperial Park were sent to European zoos, which helped to save the species, since the herd in China did not survive for long. First a flood in 1894 killed many of the deer, then the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 wiped out the rest of the herd when starving peasants killed them for food. Fortunately the 11th Duke of Bedford acted to save the deer from extinction. He collected together nearly all of the Père David deer in Europe - there were just 18 left - and established a successful breeding herd in his spacious park at Woburn. The first few members of the Knowsley herd arrived in 1979, and fortunately they began to breed successfully. In 1986, 39 deer, including four which had been born at Knowsley, were sent back to China as part of a project organised by the Zoological Society of London to reintroduce the deer to their homeland. According to recent reports, the herd is now well established and breeding successfully. Knowsley holds one of the largest herds of Père David deer in the U.K. Calves at Knowsley are born in April and remain hidden for about a week after the birth, so look carefully for them in the spring.

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