A Special Stag Story

To round up our busy weekend, B. had arranged for us to go on a deer safari at Woburn Abbey.
After some excellent biscuits we all climbed into a tractor-pulled trailer for our tour of the deer park.
Martin, our excellent guide, showed us various breeds of deer and told us about their particular features and how they care for them. 
Woburn has a rare collection of the Pere David deer. Their other name is Milu, which is Chinese and means ‘four animals’, as the deer is described as having the tail of a donkey, the feet of a cow, the head of a horse and the antlers of the deer.
This breed of deer was discovered in the 19th century by missionary and naturalist Pere Armand David.  When the last known herd of these deer became extinct in China, the 11th Duke of Bedford and his wife Mary brought the remaining deer in Europe to Woburn to breed. At one point  there were only 8 female deer alive and they were used for breeding in order to save the species.  Generations of the family worked to establish other herds in case tragedy should strike the Woburn herd.  In 1985, 20 deer were released into the Nan Haizi Milu Park in Beijing.  There are now 5000 Pere David’s deer in the world today...and all are descended from the herd at Woburn.  So a success story indeed!
The extra is a photo of Woburn Abbey itself, I believe the ducks flying overhead are Widgeon, as I could hear them whistling..
Also see Bom’s blip of the deer tour. https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2229334433771553778

Apologies again for lack of comments and stars (and blips), but I've had another bad week of migraines, but hope to get back on track with blip from now on.