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milu paddock

  • Media owner leclub
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Indeed. I understand Milu is derived from Chinese words meaning 'five parts', in reference to the fact the animal's body parts don't always look as if they match up too well!

EDIT: Looks like I've got a possibly slightly muddled version of the story there - according to Wikipedia:

Wikipedia: Pere David's Deer said:
Besides the Chinese official name Milu (麋鹿), a Chinese nickname name (Traditional Chinese:四不像, pinyin: sì bú xiàng), and in Japanese: 四不像 (shifuzou): translated as "four unlikes," because the animal has been described as having "the hoofs of a cow but not a cow, the neck of a camel but not a camel,antlers of a deer but not a deer, the tail of a donkey but not a donkey."[2] Several other sources claim "sibuxiang" to have different meanings: "the nose of a cow but not a cow, the antlers of a deer but not a deer, the body of a donkey but not a donkey, tail of a horse but not a horse"[3] ; "the tail of a donkey, the head of a horse, the hoofs of a cow, the antlers of a deer";[4] "the neck of a camel, the hoofs of a cow, the tail of a donkey, the antlers of a deer";[5] "the antlers of a deer, the head of a horse and the body of a cow"[6]. By this name, this undomesticated animal entered Chinese mythology as the mount of Jiang Ziya in Fengshen Yanyi (translated as Investiture of the Gods), a Chinese classical fiction written during the Ming Dynasty.

Interestingly, ultimateungulate.com (http://www.ultimateungulate.com/artiodactyla/elaphurus_davidianus.html) suggests that Milu was actually the local name for Sika Deer, and that Milne-Edwards (who described Pere David's Deer) got mixed up.
 

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