ElkOccasional floodsled to natural wild Occasional floodsled to natural wild

Elkoriginated over 200 million years ago in late Early Pleistocene， at the same time asthe human origin. Elk was a widely distributed specie in East Asia wetlands. In 1917， the last elk died in Beijing Wansheng garden. At the beginning of 20th century， the British Duke Bedford collected all 18 survivingelks all over the world. After the World WarII，elk has been gradually introduced to more than 20 countries in the world.

In 1985， elk was reintroduced to Beijing Nanyuan Park， as a consequence， Beijing Milu Park was established. In 1986， the Forestry Department， with the help of World Wildlife FundandI UCN （The International Union for conservation of nature） ， introduced 39 elks from 5 zoos in England， such as London Zoo， Manchester Zoo etc and were stocked in Dafeng Elk National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu Province.By 2014， the population of Dafeng elk bull has reached 2300， becoming the world's largest elk population at present.

In 1998， eight elks were released into the wild beach by Dafeng Elk National Nature Reserve. At the beginning， some elk went back to the fence， but soon， elk gradually adapted to the wild life. Thereafter， Elk National Nature Reserve continued the elk reintroduction. Until now， it has formed 236 wild elk populations at Dafeng Yellow Sea beach. In 1998， since the flood of Yangtze River， Shishou Nature Reserve of Hubei Province was affected. A group of elks escaped from the protected area to the south of the Yangtze River， forming a natural wild elk population. Natural wild populations grow better than those live in protected areas， and they have a higher population growth rate. Now， their footprints have spread to the Dongting Lake area.