Dafeng (Elaphurus davidianus) National Nature Reserve. 11/01/02; Jiangsu; 78,000 ha; 33°05’N 120°49’E. National Nature Reserve. A typical intertidal mudflat ecosystem on the coastline of the Yellow Sea, supporting a wide variety of rare animal species, including 315 species of birds (23 of them nationally protected), 600 of insects and 156 of fish, as well as the threatened Pere David’s Deer or “Milu” (Elaphurus davidianus) for which the Reserve was chiefly gazetted. Following the introduction of 39 Milu in 1986, the population has grown to nearly 1,169 individuals in 2007, said to be the largest Milu population in the world; the population is in fact outgrowing the site’s capacity, and research on the release of the Milu into the wild is ongoing. The site provides habitat and breeding areas for various kinds of bird, fish and shellfish. The reserve became a Ramsar site in 2001, and then joined the international migratory network of plovers and sandpipers in 2004, and as an internationally important wetland of great ecological significance, the site obtained permanent protection. The site is important for flood control, sediment retention, and shoreline stabilization, to a high degree. There is a visitors’ centre of 600 m2 visited by about 40,000 tourists every year. Agricultural development, including land reclamation, and chemical runoff are seen as significant threats. Ramsar site no. 1145. Most recent RIS information: 2008.