Père David's deer

American  

[pair dah-veedz deer, pair dey-vidz] / ˈpɛər dɑˈvidz ˈdir, ˌpɛər ˈdeɪ vɪdz /

noun

1. a medium-sized, reddish-gray deer, Elaphurus davidianus, of which stocks were obtained in Beijing (formerly, Peking) in 1865 and brought to parks in Europe before the remaining Chinese deer were killed in 1900: the species is sustained in captivity.

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Père David's deer British  

noun

1. a large grey deer, Elaphurus davidianus, surviving only in captivity as descendants of a herd preserved in the Imperial hunting park near Beijing

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Etymology

Origin of Père David's deer

First recorded in 1895–1900; named after Père Armand David (1826–1900), French missionary, the deer's first European observer

Example Sentences

Gale, born to mother, Piper, and father, Freddie, is the second Pere David’s Deer born at the zoo in the past two years.

From Washington Times

In one, he compares himself to a Père David’s deer — a species that, by the time a French missionary became in the 19th century the first Westerner to see it, existed only in captivity, in the Chinese emperor’s hunting preserve.

From Washington Post

They are expected to have various animals but, for now, Gill said they have ring-tailed lemurs, sulcata tortoises, Pere David’s deer, red kangaroos, coatimundi, African crested porcupines, Muntiacini, and a Nubian ibex which are being held at their homes until their enclosures are finished on location.

From Washington Times

“Donkeys, rabbits, dogs, cats and Père David’s deer,” Ms. Stieren said.

From New York Times

The grouping of Eld’s deer with Père David’s deer also led to the curious idea that the latter might have arisen as a hybrid of Eld’s deer and a wapiti-type cervine – a subject that I covered in an article from last year devoted to Père David’s deer.

From Scientific American