Yang Guomei's photographs of milu. (Photos/Courtesy of Yang Guomei)
Re-introduction
Milu were absent from China until the 1980s, when the Chinese government and the World Wildlife Fund decided to reintroduce them to their native soil.
In 1986, 36 Père David's deer were chosen from five UK zoos and introduced to the Dafeng Milu Nature Reserve. Yang, the vice county head of Dafeng county, was in charge of the construction of the nature reserve. He introduced drinking water into the reserve, and built a complex of exhibition halls, pagodas and towers, transforming it from a wasteland into a natural park. By 1998, the milu population in the nature reserve had grown by an average of 23 percent each year to 354.
While his initial care for milu deer came mainly from his sense of responsibility as a county head, that soon turned into a tie with the animal that became much more personal. "I just can't get rid of the image of milu in my mind, and during weekends, I often go to the nature reserve to photograph them," he said.
From another perspective, he believed that capturing pictures of milu would boost people's understanding of the animal. "Chinese people weren't familiar with milu deer at that time, so I thought it was necessary to re-introduce milu to the Chinese through pictures," Yang said.
Yang was by no means a veteran photographer. He bought his first camera - a compact one - when he was 38 years old, and started shooting milu deer when he was 41. But years of practice and, more importantly, time spent with milu deer, turned him into a master in photographing these creatures.
