This species of deer is native to China. By the late 19th century, the deer had become extinct in the wild. The only remaining herd belonged to the was Chinese emperor. He kept the deer in a royal hunting park in the southern part of Beijing. In 1895, a flood washed away part of the wall and some of the deer escaped. Most of these were then killed and eaten by the local population. This left fewer than 30 deer left in the park. Then in 1900, the park was occupied by German and Japanese soldiers during the Boxer Rebellion. These killed and ate the remaining deer. This left the deer nearly extinct in China. The last known deer in the wild in China was shot in 1939 near the Yellow Sea.